The Air That I Breathe
by Chellerbelle
Summary: Rogue copes with near isolationism when her powers return. Gambit accepts truths about himself he has tried to ignore. In this sweeping, multi-lifetime spanning tale, Rogue and Gambit circle each other like two immortal celestial bodies, waxing and waning, but will they ever find a moment in time to come together, or are they destined to live forever, just out of arm's reach?
1. Back With a Vengeance

**The Air That I Breathe**

Rogue's powers come back with a vengeance and Gambit is a thief with his own problems. As Rogue learns to cope with near isolationism, she makes friends in the most unlikeliest places, while Gambit learns to accept truths about himself which he has tried to ignore for far too long. In this sweeping tale which spans more than a lifetime, Gambit and Rogue circle each other like two immortal celestial bodies, waxing and waning, but will they ever find their moment in time to come together, or are they destined to live forever, just out of arm's reach?

* * *

This story is for my best friend, Joy, who made a request of me I didn't think I'd ever be able to grant. As it happened, her request not only tied in perfectly with the premise for this story but also gave me some direction.

Thanks to my writing buddy **JayCee's Red Gold**, for her always valuable feedback, for letting me bounce ideas off her, for her encouragement, and the fantastic summary.

**This story will cover a massive amount of time **and lots of things are going to happen in that time. Expect births, deaths, marriages, and world-status-quo changing events.

Canon with X1-X3, XO: Wolverine, Iron Man 1 & 2, and The Avengers.

Updates will be **weekly.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Back With a Vengeance**

It should have been another day at college just like any other. It started that way and it had been progressing that way with no hint whatsoever that everything was about to go horribly wrong.

Rogue sat in the classroom, taking notes while her professor lectured them. She had arrived at college on her motorcycle like she did most Tuesdays, and as such was wearing her motorcycle gear: brown leather pants and boots, a green shirt; her brown leather jacket was hanging off the back of her chair, and her motorcycle gloves were in her bag. Those gloves were the only gloves she wore nowadays, thanks to the Cure.

Taking the Cure had been the best decision of her life.

Rogue was no longer plagued by voices. She could touch others freely, skin to skin, flesh to flesh, without hurting them. She still lived at Xaviers. Rogue had thought about moving out, but the student population was always increasing and she felt that she would be leaving her friends in the lurch if she went. Some of the students didn't approve of her being there, but her friends hadn't thought any less of her for her Cured status. Certainly none of them had ever even considered telling her that she didn't belong there any more in the last two years.

She and Bobby continued to date for awhile, but eventually grew apart. It had ended on mutual terms and they were still friends.

The analogue clock on the wall above the board read 3:15 and Rogue lifted her head just in time to see the second hand land on the four. In that moment, the professor collapsed and all the students slumped in their chairs or face-planted over their desks.

Rogue collapsed because she was suddenly overwhelmed by sheer volume of life energy she was absorbing from everyone else in the room. Everyone else collapsed because they had no defences against the return of Rogue's mutation, which had come back with a vengeance.

There was no time for questions, had Rogue's mind even been capable of forming questions. A part of her knew without knowing that if she stayed there she would kill them all. That same part provided the trigger she needed to stand, grab her things quickly, and head for the door.

Rogue never remembered the walk from her classroom to the parking lot. While still trying to deal with the effects of the psyches she had already absorbed from her class, she continued to be battered around with the psyches she absorbed from everyone else she passed on her way. No one was immune. They all fell to the floor around her.

Once Rogue finally made it into the parking lot, she was faced with a new dilemma. She knew she had to leave and get back to Xavier's, but the part of her which knew that didn't know where she was parked, or even which vehicle she had arrived in that day. She had to stare at her keys for two minutes before the appropriate memory triggered, and even then it took her another fifteen before she even found her motorcycle.

Thankfully, the processes of gearing up, starting her motorcycle and driving home was ingrained in her system and Rogue could do it on automatic. With her jacket, gloves, and helmet on, very little of Rogue's skin was exposed, and between that and the fact that few of the vehicles around her had their windows down, Rogue didn't absorb anyone else while she was on the road. The time travelling gave Rogue a chance to not so much clear her head as get a grip on her mind.

When she arrived back at Xavier's, after she got though the gates, she headed inside along the fence until she found a location she believed was far enough away from the population. She parked her motorcycle, pulled out her phone, and rang Storm's number.

"Hello, Rogue," Storm said when she answered her phone, and proceeded to frown in confusion at the garbled words that she received in response. It made no sense, and Storm thought she even caught a few words of foreign language mixed amongst it.

"Rogue, please, slow down, I cannot understand..." Storm said, but it was useless. Rogue babbled on a bit more and then the call was cut off. Storm attempted to call back, but there was no answer. Concerned, and knowing Rogue should be at school, Storm looked up the number for the college.

* * *

Some hours later, Logan stepped into Storm's office. He kept his mouth shut while Storm finished up her phone call and then waited briefly when Storm hung up and buried her face in her hands.

"Found her," Logan said. "She's on the property, but she's got a spot well away from any people."

He didn't add that the area he'd found her in smelt a little off. He couldn't identify the "off" part yet and didn't want to add to Storm's burden.

Storm sighed and lifted her head. "Well, at least that is one less worry."

"How bad is it?"

"Eighty-seven were affected," Storm replied.

Logan gave a low whistle.

"There has been a lot of anger, mostly directed towards myself as Rogue's...representative, but also at mutants in general," Storm went on, and she shook her head. "Incidents like this only vindicate the anti-mutant sentiment out there, and this is only going to get worse once everyone's had a chance to calm down and the news has spread. I just hope we will be able to contain the situation before mutant/human relations are set back twenty years."

"Three years is more like it," Logan replied grimly. "Look, I'm going to fish out some of the camping gear and supplies and try and find away to pass them onto her without being absorbed. At least then she'll have food and shelter for the night."

Storm nodded. "Please do."

Logan reached over and patted her shoulder, then left.

* * *

Jimmy looked out in the direction that Logan had indicated Rogue was while Logan tied a skateboard onto his back. It was starting to get dark, but there was still enough light that everyone could see what they were doing. He took a deep breath and then put on the helmet that Bobby had given him.

"Relax," Bobby said, smiling confidently at him. "Even if it turns out you're not immune to Rogue's power, we're still going to get you back safely. And you won't even be in her area of effect very long either. Logan and I will have our eyes on you the whole time."

Jimmy nodded. Logan and Bobby had approached him about passing on some supplies to Rogue, who remained uncontactable. They thought that his power of neutralising the powers of other mutants may give him a chance to get close to her. If he could shut her powers off, they might even have a chance at having a real conversation with her. He was still a little nervous; by the time he and Rogue met she had already taken the Cure so they had no real evidence to suggest what would happen.

Logan finished tying on the skateboard, and Bobby handed Jimmy the pack of supplies. Jimmy held these out in front of him, took a deep breath, and began the walk. There was a feeling of cold behind him, and Jimmy knew that Bobby had created an ice-podium for himself so he could watch Jimmy's progress from above. There were enough trees and other tall plants between them and Rogue that they needed the height to keep an eye on Jimmy.

Logan had pegged Rogue at being about one hundred and fifteen yards away. He smelt Jimmy at about fifty yards from her position when Bobby called out from above "He's down." Logan cursed under his breath. He pulled the rope to haul Jimmy back but also began walking forward to reduce the distance Jimmy needed to be pulled. The supplies weren't with him, but Logan and Bobby (who had hurried to join them near the border) could just see where they fell a few metres away.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now," Logan said, as he untied the unconscious Jimmy, "except get Leech here into bed."

"A shame it didn't work," Bobby said with a wistful glance in Rogue's direction.

"Live and learn, kid. Live and learn."

Logan picked up Jimmy and they started on their way back. They were halfway to the mansion when Logan's phone rang. He had half a mind to ignore it, but was glad that he chose to answer it when Rogue's name appeared on the screen.

"Rogue?" he answered urgently.

Bobby looked anxiously towards Logan.

"Thank you," Rogue replied, her voice sounding rather shaky and stilted. "F-for the supplies."

"You're welcome, darlin'," Logan said. "How are you doing?"

"Better...than before," she said. "Still...can't...hard to think..."

"Is there anything you need us to do to help?"

"No, yes, I don't know. I can't... I don't..."

"It's okay, take all the time you need."

"Can't...focus properly right now..." Rogue said, distress seeping into her tone. "Better alone... Will call...tomorrow..."

She hung up. Logan grunted and looked at the phone for a moment before putting it back in his pocket.

"Is she okay?" Bobby asked anxiously.

"She's probably doing as well as can be expected," Logan said as he picked up Jimmy. "She absorbed eighty-seven people in one go; it's probably a miracle she even made it here, let alone without killing anyone on the way."

Bobby blanched at that, but didn't reply.

* * *

Rogue woke up the next morning and frowned at the blue ceiling above her. She sat up, confused. She could hear voices, lots of them, but there was no one in the tent with her.

Why was she even in a tent anyway?

Rogue unzipped the flap of the tent that served as the door and stepped out. There was a fireplace not far in front of her, and an open camping backpack off to the side. Seeing these things gave her the vague recollection of setting up the tent and cooking dinner, although she couldn't remember what she actually ate.

She frowned and rubbed her face, then looked around. She could still hear the voices but she couldn't see anyone. They felt familiar too, as if she knew them, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. In her agitation, Rogue kicked at the ground, and then jumped back with a start when a spider came out with the dirt. To her surprise it didn't actually try to run away or anything. She knelt down and watched it, and then gave it a tentative prod with a nearby stick. It was definitely dead.

It was then that it occurred to Rogue that all the voices she could hear were in her head and she was actually all alone. She got the vague idea that her powers must have come back, and she rubbed her hands together as she stood. Everything was so confused and so mixed up, and despite the fact that there was no one around and no more voices were leaking into her head she still felt like she was absorbing something.

* * *

Storm looked stonily at the helicopter which landed in the middle of the front lawn, and the multiple black vans which had arrived through the front gates. She ignored the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who came out of those vans and were now lined up before her, and kept her eyes focused on those exiting the helicopter. Nick Fury she expected, but she was a little surprise to see Hank with him. Just behind her and to the side, Logan growled.

Nick Fury strode purposefully towards Storm, with Hank close behind. The last time they had met Fury was immediately following the battle at Alcatraz, after Jean Grey had died. Storm had not appreciated his attitude towards one of her oldest friends, and their association since then had been minimal.

"We're here for Rogue," Fury said as he stopped in front of her.

Storm looked him squarely in the eye.

"Even assuming I know where she is," Storm said, "I have no reason to simply let you take her, nor do you have any chance of getting near her without being absorbed yourself."

"Ororo, we know she's here," Hank spoke up gently, but firmly. "We've acquired sufficient information from cameras, both at the college, and roadside, to know that she's here."

"I don't care how you think you know stuff," Logan said, a growl in the back of his throat. "You're ain't getting her."

"She needs to be contained—" Fury began.

"Yeah? And by 'contained' you mean 'kill', right?" Logan said, looking at Nick with a dark, suspicious glare.

"No, by contain I mean contain," Fury replied evenly. "She put eighty-seven people into comas—"

"We are well aware of the situation," Storm said. "And we intend on doing everything we can to help her."

"And that is what we wish to do," Hank insisted.

"You, I believe, Hank," Storm said, nodding towards one of her oldest living friends. "But I don't trust Fury not to persecute Rogue for an accident. The Cure only wore off a small proportion of those who took it and this has been the first incident in months. We had no reason to believe that the Cure would wear off Rogue, nor that the effects of her mutation would be so devastating."

"Then believe me now when I say that we truly wish to help Rogue," Hank said sincerely. "I firmly believe that persecuting mutants for the...damage which is caused by the manifestation of their abilities is not the answer. This is to help her _and_ to protect her, and the rest of the school. Will you at least let us talk to her?"

Storm shook her head.

"I cannot even if I wanted to. Rogue has not been answering her phone; the only times we have spoken to her is when she has contacted us." She shot a harsh look at Fury. "You may think those comas are bad, but I assure you, those comas are nothing compared to whatever Rogue is going through right now. She is struggling with the assimilation of eighty-seven new personalities in a very short period of time, and it has made communication...difficult."

Storm chose not to count Rogue's absorption of Jimmy at this time. That was information Nick Fury didn't need to know.

"But you do know where she is," Fury stated.

"As I said," Storm replied, "that information is useless to you, as you cannot approach her. Where she is right now she is not hurting anyone."

"Actually I believe there is a way to approach her without being absorbed," Hank said. "Based on the video footage we have, the few eyewitness accounts we were able to acquire, and the fact that she was able to drive all the way here without absorbing other drivers and causing an accident, I believe that someone in an airtight suit could approach her."

Storm and Logan looked at each other.

"Which means we can contain her in an airtight room," Fury added, "assuming Dr McCoy's theory is correct."

"We both want the same thing, Ororo," Hank said. "But we have the facilities to achieve our goal with minimal danger to anyone else. You do not, not in the long term."

Storm was silent for a moment.

"I do not appreciate being manipulated, Fury," she said, turning her gaze on him. "Had you come here alone, I would not have helped you. Not after the way you handled the Alactraz affair. You obviously knew this, which is why you have brought Hank here."

Hank coughed uncomfortably.

"My concerns are for Rogue's welfare, and while I can believe that Hank honestly has Rogue's best interests at heart, I do not believe that you do," Storm went on. "I will agree to allow Hank to help, on the condition that Rogue stays here."

"I don't think so," Fury replied.

"That is the only way you will get my co-operation," Storm said firmly. "She stays here. This is a school which specialises in helping mutants control their abilities. If you truly want what's best for her, you will let her stay here."

"And what about what's best for you and the rest of the people here?" Fury asked. "This isn't just going to go away. Enough people know that Rogue lives here for you to end up in some serious trouble."

"In that case we are already in trouble regardless of whether Rogue is here or not, since the general public will not care if Rogue is on or off the premises," Storm replied.

"Perhaps we can agree to a compromise," Hank cut in. "Rogue may stay here as long as S.H.I.E.L.D. is kept informed of her situation. After all, the X-Men may well require S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support to properly identify the extent of Rogue's current mutation and the containment thereof. S.H.I.E.L.D. will benefit by keeping Rogue here as they will not have to reassign agents or redirect as many resources towards protecting Rogue."

The three of them continued to argue and negotiate for quite some time, much to Logan's annoyance. He was happily distracted by the ringing of his phone, and he was both pleased and concerned when Rogue's name flashed up on his screen. He walked a little ways away, and answered it.

"Hi darlin'," he said carefully.

"Hi... I... I'm sorry, Logan, I know there was a reason why I called," Rogue said, sounding dazed and confused. "I just don't know what it is right now..."

"It's okay," he said. "How are you feeling?"

Rogue was silent for so long, Logan wondered if he should have asked an easier question.

"Lost and confused," she said finally. "My head's just so mixed up right now. And I feel like I'm still absorbing something, but I don't know what."

"I see."

"I'm hungry."

"I put food in your pack. Did you finish it already?" he asked, then added quickly. "I'll arrange to get some more to you as soon as I can."

"Oh you did?" Rogue asked as Hank turned his head to look at Logan. "I remember eating, but I just don't know..."

"Are you talking to Rogue?" Hank asked, and when Logan looked up guiltily, Hank held out his hand. "May I have a word with her?"

Logan looked at Hank, then at Storm, who gave him a faint nod. He growled under his breath.

"Rogue? Hank McCoy's here. He wants to talk to you."

"Do I know him? I can't seem to remember..."

"Yeah, you know him. Hang on..." Logan reluctantly held out the phone to Hank. "She's very confused right now. Don't say anything I'll make you regret."

"As charming as always, Logan, I see," Hank replied blandly, then put the phone to his ear. "Rogue, it is Hank McCoy here. How are you feeling?"

There was a long pause and when Hank repeated Rogue's name Logan smirked.

"Lost and confused," Rogue said. "I just... I'm not really sure where I am right now. I knew a moment ago, I think, but it's gone. There are all these voices in my head and they just won't shut up. Can't think... Can't..."

"It's okay, Rogue, I'm here to help you," Hank assured her. "I was hoping that you might concede to an experiment; I think I have a way to approach you without getting absorbed. Would you like to try?"

To Hank's alarm, Rogue started to cry.

"I want to go home," she said. "But I don't know where it is any more. I don't know anything!"

"Don't worry, Rogue," Hank said. "We're going to do everything we can to help you. Just stay where you are, and try to relax, okay?"

Rogue sniffed. "Okay."

"I'm going to put you back onto Logan now," Hank told her, and once he passed the phone back to Logan, he turned to Fury and Storm. "We're going to need a telepath."

"We don't have one on staff any more," Storm said.

"I know. I also know another telepath, quite powerful, who may be able to assist Rogue," Hank said. "I believe it would be to our benefit to have her look at Rogue first before we try moving her or doing any other experiments, which means, for now, she should remain here."

"Fine," Fury said, keeping an even tone which hid his irritation. "She stays here until she can be safely moved, then we reassess the situation."

He lifted his hand, then turned and walked towards the helicopter as the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents returned to their respective vehicles. In moments they were gone.

* * *

Six hours later Storm, Logan, Hank, and the new arrival, Emma Frost, headed out to where Rogue was living on the grounds.

"By my estimate," Logan said as he led the way, "Rogue has an area of effect with a fifty yard radius. That's our drop off point."

He nodded towards the spot that was just short of where Jimmy had been absorbed the night before. Jimmy had since woken up and was none the worse for his experience. Logan put down the box of supplies he had brought with him, and Hank put down the portable generator they'd decided to provide Rogue. After all, sooner or later the battery on her phone would run out of charge, if nothing else.

"Hmm," Emma considered, placing her hand to her temple. "I may not be able to help you, not at this distance. I can sense her, but her multiple personalities will make it difficult to get a lock. Bear with me while I see what I can do."

While Emma concentrated, Storm knelt down and inspected the ground. She stood after a moment and carefully moved around, her eyes to the ground as she kept outside of Rogue's area of effect. She returned shortly to Logan's side.

"Logan," Storm said. "What do you smell?"

"Lots of things," Logan replied. "You looking for anything specific?"

Storm pointed to the ground. "Those plants are dying."

Logan looked down, as did Hank who had overheard. The men realised that there was a clear line; on their side the grass was green and flourishing, and on Rogue's it was brown and wilting.

"And look at those trees," Storm went on, pointing to the trees that Rogue was undoubtedly camping amongst. "It is spring, yet they are losing leaves as if it was fall."

"You think Rogue's responsible?" Hank asked.

"I do not know what to think," Storm replied. "She has never absorbed plants before. Of course, she has never absorbed anyone without skin contact before either."

"I have been smelling something odd," Logan said thoughtfully. "You're right, 'Ro. I'm not smelling anything living aside from Rogue, and I think I know what's been bothering me: There's _nothing_ alive except Rogue. There should be birds and bugs and rodents and crap in there, but I'm not sensing any."

"Decaying bodies?" Hank inquired softly.

"Nope," Logan said shaking his head. "The smell of decaying bodies I know. There ain't... Wait..."

"What?" Storm asked.

"Decaying bodies attract insects," Logan said, pondering seriously. "I can't smell any bugs, but I can smell something I can't quite identify."

"Insects are part of the decomposing process," Hank said thoughtfully. "Perhaps you do smell decaying bodies, but the scent is unfamiliar because you only smell the chemical aspect of it."

"Maybe."

"If so, this situation just got a lot more serious," Storm said. "We need to find out if the airtight thing will work as soon as possible, and produce a proper airtight facility for her to stay in."

"Agreed," said Emma. "If it works, I may be able to get close enough to Rogue to properly assist her. I cannot at this distance. Not in the state her mind is currently in."

"Well, then, there's no time like the present," Hank said. "I shall return to the mansion and change into my hazmat suit—I should have thought to bring it with me, no matter. See if you can contact Rogue and give her some warning."

* * *

Rogue gave a cry of fright when she saw Hank coming towards her wearing his S.H.I.E.L.D. issue hazmat suit. It took her a minute before she registered that it was Hank and she was perfectly safe.

"Now Rogue," he said, looking at her in the eyes through the clear face of the suit. "I need to you try and concentrate for a moment, if you can. Are you absorbing me at all?"

He didn't feel like he was being absorbed. He wasn't at all dizzy or discomforted in any way, and he had succeeded in walking to her while still enjoying his conscious state, but he needed to make sure. Rogue was silent for a long moment, and finally shook her head.

"I don't think so," she said, her voice taking on a hysterical tone. "I'm absorbing something, I know that much, but I don't know what, and I started absorbing it... I don't know when I started, but it was long before you got here."

"How long? A few minutes? Hours? Ever since you've been here?" Hank asked, keeping in mind the effect she was having on the vegetation.

Again Rogue was silent before replying: "It feels like forever. How long have I been here? I just don't know any more."

Hank rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. "Twenty-four hours."

"That all?"

"Afraid so. But don't worry, we're going to help you," Hank said firmly. "Now, we've got you more supplies—I'll return with them shortly—and I'll be back to check on your every day. We're going to organise a special place for you to stay where you can't absorb anyone, and I have a friend who's a telepath, who may be able to help you sort your psyches out."

Rogue blinked and looked at him.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I missed all that. I'm not concentrating very well right now."

Hank gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be back shortly."

* * *

It took some fast talking on Hank's part, but he convinced Fury that Rogue needed to be moved to an airtight facility on the Xavier estate. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have a truly airtight vehicle suitable for transporting people, and Rogue was in no state of mind to be taught how to use a hazmat suit. Once Fury had agreed, he promptly insisted that S.H.I.E.L.D. would take care of the arrangements, and even started on sending out orders while still on the phone with Hank.

Storm and Logan were somewhat annoyed at the lack of consultation, but more concerned about any little surprises S.H.I.E.L.D. might decide to incorporate into the facility. Still, when the new accommodation was designed and constructed in a month, they were both appreciative of the fact that there was no way they could have done the same. They also realised from the permanent, expandable nature of the facility, that this was also Fury's way of agreeing to let Rogue live on the Xavier estate long term.

The facility was built not all that far away from where Rogue had been living, mostly to minimise the destruction Rogue was capable of causing now. The walls were thick and shielded, but designed in such a way that they could add on additional rooms in the future. There were no windows. Because it had to be airtight there was an air and water recycling system installed. There was also fresh water and sewerage tanks which would be filled, emptied, and cleaned out as need be by the outside. They were designed so that there was no chance of Rogue's powers getting out through the works. The facility also had its own power generator.

The living quarters were far more comfortable than Storm expected of S.H.I.E.L.D. to produce, although Logan felt the need to remark that a comfortable prison was still a prison. Hank suspected that S.H.I.E.L.D. just wanted to make sure they stayed in Rogue's good books so they could ensure her cooperation in the future.

Emma Frost could not be persuaded to learn how to use a hazmat suit. She was able to use Cerebro—once she was introduced to it—to attend Rogue's mind. Although Emma had been hopeful about doing the job quickly, it became obvious to her that there was no quick fix for dealing with the influx of voices in Rogue's head. Her mind had become badly damaged and it was going to take time, and multiple sessions over that time, for Rogue to recover.

Come moving day, Rogue was escorted to her new home by Hank, dressed in his hazmat suit. He firmly pressed in a button at the side of the door which unsealed and slid to the side. As Hank and Rogue stepped into the first room, scientists raced to the area Rogue had just passed over to take samples of the "recently absorbed" for analysis. Rogue gave a light gasp as the door sealed shut behind her.

"Rogue?" Hank inquired.

"I'm not... I'm not absorbing anything," Rogue said in wonder.

It had taken her three weeks to complete drain the area of life, but even then she continued to get a very light stream, possibly from the very fringes of her area of effect. When she walked over the good ground to get to her new home it had picked up again significantly. This was the first time it had been completely cut off.

"Good," said Hank with a fond smile for her. "That was the idea."

Rogue rubbed her head and looked around the room before them. In the middle of the room there was a three-seater lounge and a coffee table. Against the far wall there was a large widescreen TV and a coffee station in the left corner complete with sink and mini fridge. There were two doors on the left wall and three doors on the right.

"This is the visitor's lounge," Hank said. "There's a doorbell just near the TV over there which they can press to alert you to their presence. There are three cameras in here so you can see what's going on as well as hearing. You will appear to your guests on the TV. I'll show you where that camera is when we get into your living quarters."

As Hank explained, he wondered how many more times he would have to repeat himself before Rogue comprehended and remembered it. It had been a little frustrating communicating with Rogue the last few weeks, but at the same time his heart went out to her. He could well imagine that his frustration with the situation was nothing compared to hers.

"Now that door," Hank said, pointing to a sealed door on the right with a keypad next to it, "leads to your med bay. Only authorised personnel can get in there, and right now I'm the only one with the code. The door next to it goes to an observation room, which looks in on the med bay. It will remain locked for your own privacy, and will only be used on rare occasions, if at all. A little future-proofing there."

Rogue nodded towards the ordinary door that Hank indicated. The third door on the right—also an ordinary door—led to the toilet. Hank then drew her attention to the ordinary door on the left.

"Now, that door leads to the storeroom where we keep the hazmat suits," Hank said. "The one I'm wearing right now will be living in there. And this final door leads to the vestibule between this visitors lounge and your living quarters. Rogue, this is important; you are not to go past that door without wearing your hazmat suit. You haven't got one yet, but you will."

Hank waited until he got an "Okay" before continuing. He wasn't entirely sure if it sank in, but he also knew she didn't want to absorb anyone, and figured if anything had a chance of sinking in that day, it was that. Hank opened up the door and they walked into the vestibule. There was another door on the other side, and next to it was a table, a document holder, another doorbell, and a smaller screen.

"The vestibule will also be used as a delivery room," Hank told Rogue. "So there will be people who occasionally come in here without a hazmat suit on to drop off supplies or mail for you. However, there are cameras, so you can make sure that no one's in here without one before you come in. You can also lock the door we just came through to ensure that no one enters if you're in here without a hazmat suit. Again, another doorbell. You can also lock this door, but there is an emergency override."

Hank opened the second door, and Rogue followed him into the living quarters. There was another large widescreen TV with a few smaller screens on either side hanging on one of the walls. Underneath it was a counter which held and hid the computer, amongst other things, which could also be used as a desk. Across from the screens there was a high three-seater lounge, a coffee table, and a tabletop on wheels for eating meals or using the computer from the lounge.

There were a couple of sets of shelves on the walls behind the lounge, already partially filled with things. A kitchen was built in against the back wall of the main room, complete with fridge, freezer, oven, exhaust fan, and plenty of counter space. There was also a fire blanket and extinguisher nearby, and three other doors; two ordinary, and one fully sealed.

"The kitchen is already stocked with a few easy meals, drinks, and snacks," Hank said. "Please, don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else you need. We also took the liberty of moving in your things from your room in the mansion. Now, the computer over here is also your communications centre. Well, you can still use your cell phone, of course, but through here you also have internet communications available, and this is also how you'll be communicating with people in the visitors lounge."

Rogue nodded, and Hank turned her attention to the sealed door.

"This door leads into the med bay. That light up there will glow red if there's someone in there, and you only need to turn on this monitor to see who's there. If I'm only in there to study the results of tests, I may not be wearing my hazmat suit, so please check before coming in. Now, this door leads to the bathroom."

Hank opened up the door and Rogue stepped in, blinking at the size and luxury of it. The room also doubled as a laundry, and whoever had designed it apparently decided that it wasn't enough for Rogue to have an ordinary bathtub; it had to be a corner spa bath.

"Wow," she said softly.

"More than just the comforts of home, it seems," Hank replied with a slight smile.

The final room was the bedroom, which was spacious as well, and had a queen sized bed as well as the usual bedroom furniture.

"I believe this may be enough excitement for one day," Hank said, observing that Rogue had been rubbing her head more and more as the tour had progressed. "I'll leave you to settle in, and I'll come see you again in the morning."

"Thank you," Rogue replied.

Hank left after they exchanged good byes. Rogue swayed on the spot for a moment, then walked into the bathroom, stripping off as she went and got into the shower. She had been living outdoors for a month, and as accommodating as everyone had been in matters of hygiene, it was nice to finally have a proper shower for once. With the voices in her head still being noisy, she didn't feel like she had total privacy, but it was close enough. After her shower, Rogue high-tailed it to bed and went straight to sleep.

* * *

Not long after Rogue awoke from her nap she heard the doorbell ring. She didn't recognise the sound for what it was at first, and it rung two more times before it registered. Rogue headed for the computer centre and pressed the button which Hank had indicated would answer the doorbell in the visitors lounge.

"Hi Emma," Rogue said, seeing the unimpressed telepath appear on the screen.

"Rogue," Emma replied in acknowledgement, then gestured behind her to the lounge. "I'm going to start our session now. You may want to make yourself comfortable."

"Okay."

The two women settled themselves on their respective lounges, Emma sitting and Rogue lying down. Emma closed her eyes and concentrated. The only reason why she hadn't simply used her telepathy to alert Rogue to her presence when the bell hadn't worked the first time was because Emma knew that Rogue wouldn't be able to differentiate her voice from all the others.

Emma was well pleased to find that Rogue's mind was no longer under pressure from all the life energy she had been absorbing. She immediately set about restitching up mental wounds which the pressure had been reopening. Maybe this time they would actually heal. The worst of the mental injuries were where Rogue's psyches were situated and Emma trod very carefully around there. She couldn't silence them until after Rogue's injuries had healed, but she was able to keep them from interfering with critical areas.

"Okay, I'm done for the day, Rogue," Emma said, knowing that the speaker system would pick up her voice. "You're doing a lot better now that you're not absorbing anything any more. I'll be back again tomorrow."

"Thank you," Rogue replied.

* * *

When Hank came to see Rogue the next morning, he was well pleased to find that she was looking much refreshed; the best she'd been in weeks. He changed into his hazmat suit and met her in the med lab.

"And how are you feeling this morning?" he asked Rogue as she sat on the bio-bed.

"Human," Rogue replied ruefully. "I'm clean, I had a few good meals and a lot of sleep. My head doesn't ache as much. Well, it still aches, but... I think I might have gotten used to it aching at a certain level because now that it's not aching as much I wonder how I dealt with it for so long."

"Well, you're certainly looking a lot better," Hank said. "Now, I have a number of tests I need to run which I really can't put off any longer."

"Of course," Rogue replied. "Go right ahead. I want to know what's going on myself."

"I already know that much, Rogue," Hank said as he went about his tests. "The Cure only wore off a small proportion, and of that small group two others had their powers come back much stronger than ever. They're coping better than you are, but they were only low-level mutants to begin with. You were a medium-level."

"Were, huh?" Rogue said, watching as Hank drew blood from her arm.

"I'll know exactly what you are when I've studied the results of these tests. I'm sorry Rogue, I'm afraid it's a case of 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'," Hank said sympathetically.

"You're sure it's the Cure that's at fault?" Rogue asked, looking miserable as she did so. "It's not a virus or something?"

"Afraid so, Rogue," Hank said. "The blood test I did on you in the beginning confirmed it already."

"You've already done a blood test?"

"The last month has been a bit of a blur for you, hasn't it?"

Rogue groaned and buried her head in her hands. "You know what, Hank? Right now I'm just happy that I remember the last twenty-four hours clearly."

"That is certainly good news."

"Is this permanent?" Rogue asked. "I don't suppose there's a chance my power will settle down to its original level?"

"It's theoretically possible," Hank replied. "But please, don't get your hopes up. The other two haven't lost any of their current strength to my knowledge, and they've been like that much longer than you. Don't worry, Rogue. We're going to do everything we can to ensure that you get to live a long, happy and healthy life."

Rogue nodded not trusting herself to reply. It was hard to process things at times, but one thing had made itself quite clear:

Taking the Cure had been the worst mistake of her life.


	2. A Lady Should Never be Subjected to Such

Years since Rogue's powers returned: **1**

**Chapter 2: A Lady Should Never be Subjected to Such Voyeurism**

**One Year Later:**

Storm wrapped her arms around Gambit and they hugged each other tightly in the foyer of the Xavier mansion. The door closed of its own accord behind him.

"It is good to see you," Storm said when she finally pulled away, keeping her hands on his upper arms. "It has been far too long."

"It has, it has," Gambit replied warmly.

Looking at Gambit, it was hard to believe he was older than she was. He looked mid-twenties at most and had always done so for as long as Storm had known him.

"Long time, no see, Gumbo," said Logan, leaning casually against the door frame leading to the rec room.

"Ah, Logan," Gambit replied, blinking at him in surprise. "I never would have expected to find you here."

"Funny you should say that," Logan replied. "I didn't expect you to have law-abiding friends."

"I am afraid I was not so law-abiding when Remy and I met," Storm said to Logan, with a faint smile on her face.

"Oh?"

"I used to be a thief. A pickpocket."

Gambit chuckled at the cynical look on Logan's face and gave Storm a light squeeze with his arm over her shoulders.

"Only reformed thief I ever met who actually reformed for real," Gambit said, grinning at Storm. "Unless you've given into temptation after all and just chose not to tell me?"

"I have to disappoint you, Remy," Storm replied tolerantly.

"Ah well, we can't be right all the time," Gambit said with a shrug. "So, when do I get to meet this boyfriend of yours? I need to make sure he's worthy of you."

"Scare him off, you mean," Storm said.

"That too."

Storm smiled and gestured to Logan. Gambit looked at Logan, who waved his fingers at him with a sly smirk. Gambit blinked, stared at Logan, then looked back at Storm, and finally back at Logan.

"Hey 'Ro," said Logan. "The Cajun's not coming out with any smart remarks. I think we broke him."

"Not at all mon ami," Gambit said, in an attempt to cover up how shocked he was. "I was simply never expecting you two to meet, let alone start dating. So, is this a recent thing or should I be preparing for wedding bells?"

"Recent," Storm said.

"Aw shame, I was looking forward to walking you down the aisle," Gambit said, grinning at Storm. "Ah, well, there's still time."

"What makes you think I would ever ask you to walk me down the aisle?" Storm asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Hmm, good point," Gambit said, rubbing his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "I suppose it would be rather strange if I was your father-in-absentia and Logan's best man at the same time. I may have to clone myself."

"One of you is more than enough," Logan said.

"Why merci M'sieu Claws," Gambit replied, grinning winningly at him.

Logan gave a light growl and looked at Storm. "He's your friend."

"He is yours too."

"Don't remind me."

"I already did."

* * *

A few days into Gambit's visit to the Xavier mansion found him traversing the grounds. He had taken quick runs, usually first thing in the morning, and on each of them he had noticed a patch of black in the distance. Gambit felt it was about time he investigated it properly.

As he headed towards the patch of black, he noticed another building. It was a decidedly modern building, quite unlike anything else on the Xavier estate, and Gambit also decided to investigate this as well. As it happened, his attention was brought back to the black patch—which was flat and littered with tree stumps—when a localised rain storm began. He lifted his head, and sure enough, Storm was in the sky, letting loose a little rain over the dead ground.

Storm noticed Gambit's arrival. She soon finished her task—not intending to over-water the land—and flew towards him.

"Missed a spot?" Gambit inquired as she landed.

"Afraid not," Storm replied. "We have a mutant, Rogue, who has the ability to absorb life force. It used to be that it required skin to skin contact to work, but then she took the Cure, and when her powers came back, they were more powerful than ever. Now she can strip life from everything; people, animals, micro-organisms..."

"Plants," Gambit said, his eyes scanning the blackened area.

"It took a few weeks to complete the job, but she stripped this place bare a year ago," Storm said solemnly. "I have been doing my best to reintroduce life into the ground, but it is a slow process."

"Sounds like a big project then."

"One day I will finish," Storm said with a decisive nod.

Storm did not blame Rogue for what had happened, but she hated the blighted land.

"Rogue lives over there now," Storm went on, gesturing haphazardly behind her in the general direction of the building Gambit had noticed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. had it built for her after her powers remanifested and she put eighty-seven people into comas."

Gambit whistled.

"It is airtight—has to be, she has a fifty yard range and if your skin and hers are exposed within the same air supply, she'll absorb you," Storm said grimly. "All her communications are done through electronics these days."

Gambit paused, taking in what Storm was saying.

"And S.H.I.E.L.D. provided it, you said?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes. They were very generous."

"I just bet they were."

"You should go say hi," Storm said. "Anyone can walk into the visitors lounge, just ring the doorbell near the TV when you get in. I'm sure she'll be happy to see a new face."

"I may just do that."

Storm gave him a nod and went back to working on the dead earth. Gambit turned and made his way over to Rogue's home. He pressed in the button for the door with his gloved fingers and walked into the visitor's lounge, giving a low whistle as he looked around. The place actually looked nice, and not at all militaristic. If this was any indication of Rogue's living space, no wonder Storm was concerned. Gambit quickly found the doorbell Storm had mentioned, and he pressed this with a gloved finger as well.

Rogue was rather surprised to hear the doorbell ring, but pleasantly so. Unexpected visitors were always a nice change of pace and she was quick to answer it. The man in the visitor's lounge who appeared on her TV was no one she'd ever seen before. He was handsome, with shoulder-length brown hair, and was wearing a brown trench coat and a pink shirt. She couldn't see his lower half from where he was standing. The whites of his eyes seemed a little more grey than white, and the irises were a red brown.

"Hi," Rogue said enthusiastically.

"Bonjour, chère," Gambit replied, smiling back at the bright-eyed woman who appeared on the screen. "The name's Remy. I'm a friend of Storm's."

"Oh, well, nice to meet you," Rogue said. "Any friend of Storm's is a friend of mine."

"Really? Any friend?" Gambit asked with a sly grin. "What if you meet a friend of Storm's you don't like?"

"I'm sure that Storm wouldn't be friends with them for no reason," Rogue replied loftily. "So what brings you to my humble abode?"

Gambit shrugged, and decided that since Rogue was sitting down he may as well too.

"She was doing a little gardening and suggested I should introduce myself," Gambit said as he sat down on the lounge. "She told me about your powers getting, hmm, stronger."

"I tend to think of it as going into hyperdrive," Rogue said. "Dr McCoy says I now register as a borderline class five. Oh joy oh prosper."

Gambit chuckled ruefully. "Yeah those class five powers aren't all they're cracked up to be, are they? So, what do you do with yourself all day?"

"Mostly I just play computer, watch TV, read," Rogue said, waving a hand in dismissal. "All this entertaining yourself business gets really boring. Actually I'm hoping to start college classes again soon. Online, of course. Those hazmat suits are horrible; they're hot and stuffy, and there's only enough air for like, two hours anyway, so what's the point?"

"Exactly," Gambit said. "I'm quite thankful I rarely have to use one myself."

"What do you do?" Rogue asked.

Gambit shrugged. "Bit of this, bit of that. I can see why you would get bored; I'm always doing different things. I think I'd go crazy if I was stuck in a room, doing the same things day after day. How come you haven't started taking classes earlier? I think Stormy said something about you being here a year?"

"That's right," Rogue replied with a nod. "Yeah, no... Did she mention I absorbed eighty-seven people?"

"Oui."

"Did she also mention that I absorb people's minds when I absorb their life force?"

"Non."

"Well, I do, and unfortunately the impact of absorbing so many people in such a short period of time—I was in class when my powers came back—played havoc on my mind. I was having the worst time trying to concentrate on things and remember stuff," Rogue said. "There's a telepath here, Emma Frost?"

"Ah, oui, she's an old, umm, friend of mine too, actually," Gambit said. "And by friend I actually mean we can't stand each other."

Rogue giggled.

"Well, Emma was making sure I healed properly," Rogue said. "And it's been a few months now since my mental wounds healed, so hopefully I'll get the green light for going back to school soon. She was concerned that going straight into a potentially stressful situation like school too soon might reopen wounds."

"No doubt a valid concern, but it completely ignores the fact that not having sufficient mental stimuli can also be stressful," Gambit said, nodding sagely.

"I think I can see why you and Emma don't get along."

"You don't know the half of it."

"I have time. I have loads of time," she said, batting her eyelids at him. She noticed his hesitation and added: "Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

"You're just bored, huh?"

"Yep, wanna make me unbored?"

Remy chuckled.

"You're reminding me of one of my ex-girlfriends," he said. "She used to tell me she was bored and demand I entertain her."

"Oh yeah?" Rogue asked, lying down on her stomach on the lounge. "What did you do?"

"Well, the full answer to that question could get a little R-rated—" Gambit began

"Just a little?" Rogue interrupted with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, most of it's X-rated."

Rogue laughed.

"But hey," Gambit went on with a sly grin, "if you really want to know..."

"You're the one who brought her up," Rogue pointed out. "And for all I know you did a little song and dance for her."

"She never was very impressed with my rendition of _Big Shot_."

"Huh?"

"_Big Shot_. It's a Billy Joel song. He's basically telling someone off for their drunken behaviour the night before," Gambit said, grinning cheekily.

"Ah... Does your song of choice have anything to do with why your ex was unimpressed?"

"Could do," Gambit replied, hiking his legs up on the coffee table. "And see chère? I've just given you something to do after I go: Look up Billy Joel's music."

"I might just do that."

A pause followed. Rogue was lying on the lounge, leaning on her arms with her lower legs up in the air, drifting lazily back and forth. She felt like she should say something to keep the conversation going, and was about to ask how he knew Storm when he spoke up:

"Forgive me if I'm a bit forward," he said. "I know we've only just met, but may I come in?"

Rogue blinked at him and half sat up. "What? In here? With me?"

"Oui."

"Why?" Rogue asked, sounding stunned and surprised.

"Curiosity mainly," Gambit replied with a shrug. "I have this thing about getting into places I'm not supposed to go and it's overruling my distaste for wearing hazmat suits."

Rogue looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Well," she said finally, and pointed over to Gambit's left, "there's some in the storage room over there. One of them is labelled Hank McCoy—don't use that one, but the rest of them are free game. Just make sure that it has air in it. I'm not sure how often they get checked."

"All right then," Gambit said.

He pushed himself off the lounge and made his way over to the storeroom. While he was fitting himself out, Rogue glanced around her living quarters and started quickly tidying things up. She periodically checked the screens to see where he was. Soon she saw him come out of the storeroom, wearing the hazmat suit with his coat lying over his arm.

Gambit headed into the vestibule and hid his smile when he didn't even need to ring the second doorbell before the door opened. Her face was bright with excitement, and Gambit had the impression that he'd just made her day. He wasn't sure what he felt about that; he did have an ulterior movie for going in, and although it was to Rogue's benefit, he was more doing it for Storm, whom he regarded as a sister.

"Hi," Rogue said, and gestured inside. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Merci, chère," Gambit said through the built in radio in the hazmat suit. "So, this is it, huh?"

He glanced around as the door sealed shut behind him.

"Yup," Rogue replied, then gestured to the computer, TV, and lounge. "And this is where I spend most of my time."

Gambit's eyes flickered over it, taking everything in. There were quite a few conveniently placed USB ports, and he was quite conscious of the USB drive he was hiding under his coat. The trick was to plug it in as soon as possible without Rogue being aware. He'd hate to find out that there was S.H.I.E.L.D. monitoring going on and it was happening live.

"Well, it looks cosy," he said, leaning back on the counter, near a few USB ports and a mouse. One hand was planted behind his back and sought to plug in the drive (not an easy task in the gloves of the hazmat suit), and the other he slid around Rogue's waist. She looked startled, even more so when he drew her close to him.

"Oh, uh, yeah..." she said, "it's umm, comfortable enough, I guess."

This was quite possibly the best day she had ever since she moved into this wretched place. An unexpected visitor was always nice. A visitor who decided to don a hazmat suit and actually come in was unusual but appreciated (Hank didn't count, he was usually working). But having a guest who actually touched her? Even counting Hank's visits, there was no guarantee that there would be physical contact made. She missed human contact.

"There are certainly far worse places to live," Gambit replied, inwardly cursing the gloves of the hazmat suit and the fact that the helmet killed his peripheral vision. "Did you get to pick any of the furniture or was it all selected for you?"

"It was all selected for me," Rogue replied ruefully and as she turned to face inwardly into the room, Gambit quickly looked behind him, spotted the USB port he'd been trying to feel for, and plugged in the drive. "I wasn't in the right state of mind to make decisions at the time. The posters on the wall came from my old room in the mansion though."

Gambit looked up quickly whilst securing his coat over the drive and the USB port and took in the movie posters on the walls. Next to the poster for "The Piano" there was a painting of a landscape. The landscape looked familiar to him for some reason, but he couldn't identify the artist. The frame on the painting looked like a window frame. While he looked, he discreetly hit the side 'enter' button on the keyboard as the computer had detected the hard drive.

"What about the painting?" he inquired, and with one hand still around Rogue, Gambit skilfully led her over to the painting and away from the console.

"Ah, this was a present from a friend of mine, Pete," Rogue said, pleased at both the memory of receiving the gift and that Gambit hadn't let go of her yet. "He figured that just because there's no windows here, that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to see the grounds."

"The grounds?" Gambit asked, then realised why the landscape looked familiar. "Ah, this is the Xavier estate?"

Rogue nodded. "The view from one of the upstairs balconies, as a matter of fact. The nicest one too. It was such a sweet thing. And everyone even got dressed up in hazmat suits just so they could come in here and give it to me in person, and hang it up for me. It was a great day."

Gambit heard the wistful tone in her voice and saw the joy on her face.

"I'm sure it was," he said. "Pete... He's one of the X-Men?"

"Yep," Rogue replied with a nod. "Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus."

"Ah, we have met," Gambit said. "He does nice work."

"Yes, he does," Rogue said, smiling at him and sounding well pleased. "He's promised to do another painting for my bedroom when he has a chance. I have to say I'm looking forward to it."

Gambit wanted to say something about how he looked forward to getting presents too, but he suspected that wasn't the part Rogue was looking forward to.

"That's very kind of him," he said, starting to feel very awkward about the whole thing, but determined not to let her see. "How come they never bothered putting windows in?"

"Paranoid they'd get broken, I guess," Rogue replied. "Not that I'd blame them. I'm nervous someone like Sam could blast his way even through these doors, let alone glass. No matter how thick it was."

"Yeah, I suppose there are a lot of talented mutants around here," Gambit said, then inclined his head towards her. "So, care to give me the grand tour?"

"You've already seen most of it," Rogue replied with a shrug, gesturing around. "Communications centre over there, kitchen over there. Through that door is the bathroom, that door is the med bay, and that's my bedroom."

"Ah," Gambit said, glancing towards the sealed door that led to the med bay. "Personal access, hein?"

"It makes sense," Rogue said simply. "I go in there as a patient, not a doctor, so me wearing a hazmat suit in there is counter-productive. On the other hand, if Hank is working in there, but doesn't actually require my presence, he shouldn't have to wear a hazmat suit. With sealed doors on both sides like the vestibule, there's very little chance of my absorbing anyone by accident."

"Sounds sensible to me," Gambit said, noticing that Rogue's tone sounded a little more forlorn with those last few words. "So, what's the bathroom like?"

Rogue led the way with Gambit's hand still resting on her back.

"I'd say it's not that exciting, but it has a corner spa," Rogue said as she opened up the door so Gambit could take a look. "And I really like the spa."

Gambit chuckled and peered inside.

"Very nice," he said, and opted not to comment on the bra hanging over the shower wall, before noticing the washing machine and dryer. "Ah, a laundry as well."

"Yeah," Rogue said, shrugging. "Not that anything has much of a chance to get dirty around here. Food and sweat is about it. I don't even get dust in here."

Gambit turned to face her and she saw him blink at her through the clear face of the hazmat suit.

"I know this place is airtight," he said cautiously, "but surely you'd get dust?"

Rogue shook her head, looking a little sad as she shut the bathroom door. "Dust mites have life. I absorb life. Someone might tread some in here when they come visit, but they cease to live as soon as it comes into my range. The only living creatures in this room that are safe are the bacteria in my body."

Gambit raised an eyebrow. "Dare I ask what happens to your cheese?"

"It kills the bacteria in it," Rogue said. "I don't think it's changed the taste or anything, but I can't really compare it any more. Hank's a little concerned that my immune system is going to suffer, but in good news it looks like I absorb viruses as well. Technically, viruses aren't actually alive, at least not by today's scientific definition of 'living'. My powers seem to think otherwise. We're still working on confirming that."

Gambit nodded, looking slowly around the main room. It occurred to him that he may well be standing in the most sanitary home in the world.

"Well, at least you know you won't ever have a mould problem," he said.

Rogue giggled. "Yeah."

Gambit gestured to the bedroom with his free hand. "May I?"

"Why not?" Rogue asked in reply. "You've been everywhere else."

Gambit smiled and opened up the door. He was a little surprised at the large bed.

"Nice room," he said, stepping into the tidy bedroom.

"Thanks."

"I see you keep things neat."

"Well, it's not like I can go outside and go for a run when I get bored," Rogue replied with a shrug, following him in, and then she gave him a look when he sat down on her bed. "Make yourself at home, why don't you."

"Don't mind if I do," Gambit replied blithely, and patted the bed next to him. "So, what are you planning on studying in college?"

Rogue blinked as she sat on the bed beside him and eyed him speculatively.

"The tour's over and you want to stay in here and chat?" she asked. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in the lounge?"

She had no objections to him staying, but she was very much surprised by the decision.

"If I'm going to go to all the trouble of putting one of these things on, I'm going to make the most of it," Gambit replied firmly, knowing the real reason was that he wanted to give his preprogrammed hard drive the biggest window of opportunity to download as much of Rogue's system as it could. "Unless, of course, I've overstayed my welcome?"

"Oh, no, no," Rogue assured him. "I'm just surprised. Most people can't wait to leave and take those things off. Myself included."

"I've been in far less comfortable positions," Gambit replied with a shrug. "So, college?"

"Engineering," Rogue said, unable to stop the smile as Gambit's hand found its way around her again. "I was doing a mechanical major, but I'm thinking of switching to aerospace or environmental. Or maybe I'll do a double major; it's not like I have anything better to do. May as well make myself useful and learn how to maintain everything."

"Everything?"

"Yeah, you know, air tight home, air and water recycling systems," Rogue explained. "Between that and the fact that I have to wear a hazmat suit any time I want to go out, it's like I'm living in space."

Gambit chuckled.

"Anyway, if I can learn to maintain everything," she went on, "then at least that'll be one less person I'll be a burden to."

"Now chère," Gambit said with a slight frown. "I'm sure you're not a burden to anyone."

"That's nice of you to say, sugar, but I know what I am, and right now I'm chewing up a lot of resources without giving much in return," Rogue said, thought about that for a moment, and then added: "Story of my life, I guess. I'm hoping to change that, mind you, but facts are facts. Even taking into account the fact that I spent most of this year convalescing, I've got no qualifications, and I'm not exactly in a position to get a job either."

"There are lots of jobs you can get working from home these days, though," Gambit pointed out.

"I'm sure of that, but how many of them still require you to interact with people face to face?" Rogue asked, then shook her head. "It's not the point, anyway. The point is that right now I don't have a job. I don't even have permission to go back to college yet. So _right now_ I am a drain on resources. It's not a position I like being in, and I fully intend to stop being a burden to everyone I know as soon as possible."

"And I'm sure you'll succeed," he said, giving her a grin. "I don't much like having to depend on others either."

Rogue nodded. "So, umm, what is it that you do? I know you said you did all sorts of things..."

"It's really hard to get specific," Gambit replied, having no intention of telling her he was a thief, regardless of whether S.H.I.E.L.D. was listening in or not. "But I guess you could call me a courier."

"You guess?"

"Mostly I work for very rich clients who want to have very expensive and valuable things delivered to them," Gambit said, amusing himself with his own tale. "Sometime they just don't trust the item in question to get to them safe and sound; they want someone who will oversee the process from packing to delivery. Additionally, part of my job includes verifying that my clients are getting what they're paying for. I'm often checking for forgeries and other substitutions."

"What happens when you find one?"

"People get mad," Gambit replied with a glint in his eye. "But I've been doing savate since I was a kid, and I'm a mutant like you—I blow stuff up—so I can usually hold my own if it comes to a fight. And it has."

"Wow," Rogue said, swinging her legs slightly off the edge of the bed. "Sounds like it can get dangerous."

Gambit shrugged. "Doesn't happen that often, just enough to make things interesting."

"I guess you must do a lot of travelling." Rogue's voice was wistful.

"Oui, I've been all around the globe a few times now," Gambit said, catching her tone and figuring out how he could keep her occupied for the duration. "Let me tell you about the last time I went to France..."

Rogue listened intently while Gambit painted vivid pictures of his adventures overseas, having no idea of the heavy editing he was doing. She interrupted him once to inquire about the 'lady friend' he briefly mentioned, and Gambit quickly discovered that she loved hearing about the 'romance' as much as she did the sights. It took no effort on his part to romanticise his subsequent tales, and found himself to be somewhat disappointed when his hazmat suit alerted him that he was running low on air. Rogue looked disappointed too when he informed her.

"I should probably be going anyway," he said as he followed her out the bedroom door. "But perhaps next time I'm in New York, I could call by."

"I'd like that," Rogue replied with a smile as Gambit swiftly lifted his coat, unaware that he also unplugged his hard drive at the same time. "It's been a pleasure having you here. Thanks so much for visiting."

"You're welcome. You've been delightful company," Gambit said.

Rogue reluctantly opened up the front door.

"So have you," she said.

Gambit took her hand with his free one and pressed it to the face of his helmet, as if to kiss the back of her hand.

"Until next time," he said.

They said their final goodbyes, Rogue looking both happy and sad at once, and Gambit finally departed. When he made it back to his room in the mansion (very much relieved to be out of that hot and stuffy hazmat suit), he went to work. It didn't take him long to determine that Storm's concerns were warranted, though it took much longer to determine the best way to put an end to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s spying. He got into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network using some login details he had acquired some time ago, from there he remotely accessed Rogue's computer and reprogrammed things as he saw fit, then logged out again.

Later still, Gambit tracked down Storm attending her plants in the greenhouse. Storm eyed the bag over his shoulder with a little disappointment.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked.

"Well, I'd hang around, but I don't care to be here if S.H.I.E.L.D. decides to pay you a visit tomorrow," Gambit replied blithely.

"I see."

"They were recording everything," Gambit said. "Everything the cameras picked up—including the ones in her bedroom and bathroom—and everything that was said through the communications; phone, internet, and hazmat radio. Every twenty-four hours, the recordings would be packaged up and sent to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh goddess," Storm said, half-closing her eyes.

Gambit reached forward and pressed a USB flash drive into her hand.

"Give this to Rogue," he said firmly. "She needs to run the program today, before S.H.I.E.L.D. notices that they didn't get a packet. I did what I could to disable everything remotely, and the program on here will disable their back door. The only way they'll be able to restore everything is by direct access to Rogue's computer. And somehow I doubt they have a valid warrant for spying on her. On the other hand, this is S.H.I.E.L.D. we're talking about, so if they give you any more trouble..."

"Thank you, Remy," Storm replied, both to the help he had provided and his offer to assist them again if need be. "I appreciate this."

Gambit gave a shrug. "Anything for you, Stormy."

"Do not call me that."

Gambit grinned and then leaned in to give her a hug.

"Until next time, chère," he said, and kissed her forehead.

"Until next time," she replied softly. "And please, do not be so long between visits in the future."

"I'll do my best," Gambit said with a chuckle.

* * *

Only moments after Gambit had left Xavier's on his motorcycle, Storm arrived at Rogue's home. She rang the doorbell and Rogue appeared on the screen, dressed in her dressing gown. Storm immediately noticed just how happy she looked.

"Storm, hi," Rogue said. "How's things?"

"Good. Much improved, in fact," Storm replied. "I believe my friend Remy visited you today."

"He did!" Rogue said, her eyes lighting up with the memory. "You know, he actually came in here, hazmat suit and all, and chatted to me. We talked for hours. Okay, two hours, but that's not the point. He told me all about his travels overseas. It was great. I'm so glad you asked him to visit."

"I am glad that you had a good time, but I am afraid I have to tell you that Remy's visit was not exactly a social call," Storm said gently, and then held up the USB drive. "You need to run the program on this drive today. It will prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from being able to spy on you anymore."

Rogue's eyes widened. "Spy on me?"

Storm explained what Gambit had told her. Rogue was suitably horrified at the news.

"You mean all this time they were... And I... Why the little..."

Storm waited patiently and listened while Rogue vented her rage. After she had calmed down, Storm headed into the vestibule where she placed the USB drive on the document holder. She returned to the visitor's lounge to inform Rogue the drive was there. Rogue thanked her.

"So, Remy was just here to check up on S.H.I.E.L.D., huh?" Rogue said, sounding a little disappointed.

"Even if that had not been a concern of mine, I still would have sent him in your direction," Storm replied firmly. "He has been a friend of mine since I was a child, and he is a friend of Logan's also. I could see you two getting along; which it seems you did."

A small smile appeared on Rogue's face, dissolving her previous disappointment.

"We did," Rogue said. "And actually, I think I'm in danger of getting a crush on him. You know, when he came in here, he actually touched me? In fact I think he had a hand on me for most of his visit. Around my waist, and back, and shoulders, and it was nice. I've missed that."

Rogue's wistful tone made Storm regret that her claustrophobia made it impossible for her to wear one of the hazmat suits.

"He often has that effect on women," Storm said.

"Yeah," Rogue replied with a grin. "I got that impression from all the stories he told about seducing women overseas."

"He told you about that?" Storm asked in surprise. Gambit wasn't normally one to kiss and tell.

"Well, he was just telling me about travelling in general. The women thing was more of a subplot, but I picked up the juicy bits from everything he didn't say," Rogue said wickedly. "He said he might see me again next time he was in New York. You think he will?"

"I am sure of it," Storm replied with a certainty in her voice that satisfied Rogue.

They chatted a little longer, then Storm departed and Rogue retrieved the USB drive so that she could run the program. She plugged it in and got it started, then watched as it installed. Comments appeared above the loading bar, informing Rogue of what exactly the program was doing, which she appreciated.

_Overloading camera circuitry in bath and bedroom..._

"What...?"

Before Rogue's query could go any further, the lights flickered, and she heard the whine of her power generator as it was heavily drawn upon. She thought she heard a couple of bangs from the bed and bathrooms. Rogue glanced back at the computer; the program was still running fine, and the message had changed:

_Much better. A lady should never be subjected to such voyeurism._

Rogue grinned and then realised that she was more than just in danger of getting a crush on Gambit. The program completed soon after that, and she trotted into the bed and bathrooms for an inspection. Much to her disgust she spotted two cameras in the bathroom and two in the bedroom, each highlighted by a smudge of black around them. The cameras were smaller and far more discreetly placed than the ones she needed and knew about in the living room. It was little wonder she hadn't noticed them before.

* * *

The following day, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent arrived at Rogue's home. As soon as she realised who was there, she had only a dark glare and a sharp tongue for him.

"Maintenance?" Rogue repeated direly. "You're here for maintenance?"

"Yes ma'am," replied the technician. "I just need to use your computer for—"

"You know what I think? I think you're here to set things up so you can go back to spying on me again," Rogue snapped at him. "Well, you can just forget about that, _and_ you can just forget about your precious little cameras in my bedroom and bathroom. They've been dealt with."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, straight-faced.

"Suuuuuure you don't," Rogue replied snidely. "You can just turn around right now, mister. And you tell Nick Fury that if I find out even one frame of footage has made it onto a pornography site or something, I will have his head for breakfast."

"You are aware that threats against the commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. are taken very seriously," the agent replied firmly.

"Good. They should be," Rogue retorted hotly. "Don't come back unless you have a warrant. This is my home, and I have the right to defend myself. Don't think that I won't."


	3. The Pawn Becomes a Queen

**AN: **And here's a shameless plug for **JayCee's Red Gold**'s _X-Men the (Fan Fic) Series_. If you guys haven't started reading this yet, I do recommend jumping on board. It's set up like a TV show and I've been helping JayCee with it just as she's been helping me with this story. Gambit's not in it yet (he will be later, promise), but Rogue is badass from scene one. Really, she's in scene one, and she's badass :D How can you possibly say no to that? ;)

JayCee's also updating weekly - FFnet updates are on Sundays, but you can read the episodes earlier and get extra stuff on her blog. Also, I'm working on a blooper reel for the series, bwahahaha.

* * *

Years since Rogue's powers returned: **1-2**

**Chapter 3: The Pawn Becomes a Queen**

There was no real resolution to the invasion of Rogue's privacy. S.H.I.E.L.D. made no further attempts to reinstate their watch and no one brought it up again. Emma gave Rogue the go-head to start taking college classes again, and she enrolled in an online course for aerospace engineering, with the intention of getting her master's degree. She contemplated doing environmental as well, but decided she could always go back and do that one later; the course was an accelerated one so she saw no need to do more than one at a time and bite off more than she could chew in the process. Having something substantial to occupy and challenge her mind made Rogue's days a lot happier.

About a month after Rogue's return to college, she was surprised by Logan and Kitty both showing up at once. The pair were her most frequent visitors, and Kitty was the one person most likely to put on a hazmat suit and touch her. On the very rare occasions when Logan put on a hazmat suit, he always made a point of giving her a hug; in fact that was usually his whole reason for putting one on. Rogue suspected that Logan hated using the shared suits on account of the smell of the number of people sweating in them.

"So Rogue," said Logan as Kitty phased into the storeroom, "how'd you like to be a fully-fledged member of the X-Men again?"

Rogue stared at him in surprise. "Me? You want me to start training in the Danger Room and going on really short missions?"

"No reason why you can't train in the Danger Room," Logan said seriously. "It's airtight. You can get there in your hazmat suit, do a solo session without it, and come back the way you came."

"Oh, well, I guess that's true," Rogue said thoughtfully.

"No problem locking the door either," Logan went on. "No plans for missions for you at the moment, but I do have an important new responsibility for you."

"I'm listening," Rogue replied, feeling very excited about the idea of being useful again.

"Security," Logan said smugly. "Thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D., your little fort here is almost as impenetrable as the subbasement."

"That got broken into a few years back," Rogue pointed out with a slight smile, remembering Stryker's attack.

"That was before we increased security," Logan said. "Look, darlin', the point is you're in a perfect position to take care of security. You're always here—except for those Danger Room sessions—which mean you're always going to hear the alarm, and you'll be able to monitor the situation should something happen. If the team's away, you'll be able to contact us. If something goes wrong with a mission, you'll know straight away, because we'll be keeping you advised one way or another as it goes. You'll have the ability to manually turn on and off the automatic defences, and change which security alert we might be on. No one's breaking into this fort of yours short of a high yield bomb, and should one of them walk through the front door—"

"I don't even need to touch them to knock them out," Rogue finished quietly as Kitty emerged from the storeroom wearing a hazmat suit. "What about sabotaging the air and water systems? They're accessible from the outside."

"They are, and we'll be upgrading the security around them," Logan said with a nod while Kitty phased through the wall and entered Rogue's living room.

"Come to upgrade your system," Kitty said brightly to Rogue. "I could have done it remotely, except Remy was kind enough to stop people from being able to make changes to your computer like that. I still haven't figured out how he did that."

Rogue chuckled. "And you're studying what at college?"

"Shush you," Kitty said, batting at her, and then bounded over to the computer to start her work.

Logan grunted. "Security is Gumbo's speciality."

"Security?" Rogue asked. "He told me he was a courier?"

"Is that what he told you?" Logan asked with a snort.

"Well, he said he did lots of things, but mostly he delivered stuff to rich clients," Rogue said, eyeing Logan curiously. "You're saying he doesn't?"

"He delivers... Sure that's one way to put it," Logan said. He shook his head and went on before Rogue could query him further. "Alright, I'm going to organise you some regular DR sessions. Kitty'll refresh you on how to operate the system when she's done. Also, once you've familiarised yourself with the system, you and me will be designing some emergency drills. Welcome back to the X-Men."

* * *

As Logan intended, Rogue started being included in X-Men missions, if only as a contact at base. Most of the time Rogue just listened, but even if she didn't do much she was happy to feel like she was part of the team again.

Rogue started having four Danger Room sessions a week. One was defensive, and usually focused on hypothetical scenarios where her home was invaded. The second session was offensive. The third session was also offensive, only she trained in the hazmat suit. These sessions were the shortest, primarily because Rogue used up the air supply much faster under exertion. Nevertheless, she and Logan both agreed that she should know how to fight in the hazmat suit in case of emergency. Her fourth session was her choice.

"Computer: End program," Rogue said, stretching her arms above her head after finished one such session.

The holograms vanished around her and she ambled over to the side where she left her hazmat suit. Rogue reluctantly started putting it back on with the ease of someone who has done it a lot. Once secure, she unlocked the Danger Room door and stepped out.

As she made her way back home, she ignored the number of students who went out of their way to avoid coming near her. It stung a little, but she didn't know them, and they didn't know her, so she tried not to let it get to her. Her friends didn't give her a wide berth at all, and they were the ones that mattered. Nevertheless, she was relieved when she finally exited the mansion. After that, she had the long walk back to her home, and it was with some relief that she walked through the front doors. She couldn't wait to get the hazmat suit off.

Rogue was a little surprised when she walked into the vestibule and discovered a box about the length of her arm sitting on the table. She picked it up without looking at it, and dropped it down on the lounge the moment she stepped inside. The package was then promptly forgotten while Rogue got out of all her clothes and had a much needed shower after her work out. In fact, she did forget about it completely until she sat down on the lounge again later on with a book she was intending to read, and had to do a double take when she spotting it still waiting there.

The first thing that caught Rogue's attention about the box was that it was postmarked as coming from Paris, France. She was very much confused by this; she hadn't ordered anything online from France, nor did she know anyone living or visiting there. Then she noticed the sender's name: Remy LeBeau. Rogue chewed her bottom lip, not at all certain what to make of that. He had stuck out in her mind, and for that she hadn't forgotten him so much as she hadn't expected to hear from him again any time soon. Indeed, it had been the better part of a year since they met, so she had no idea why in the world he would be sending her something from France (or anywhere else).

Rogue retrieved a pair of scissors and sliced open the box. Inside was a cushion decorated with a picture of the Eiffel Tower with some hot air balloons floating around it. Also in the box was a short note:

_In France again and thought of you. Hope you like the pillow._

Rogue stared at the note, and then at the cushion. Now she really didn't know what to think. He bought her something because he thought of her? They barely even knew each other! The fact that he had even been thinking of her at all made her feel incredibly giddy, and the little crush she thought she had gotten over resurged. She looked at the note again, front and back, and checked the box. There was nothing else, and after a moment's hesitation (and another to admire the cushion and give it a hug), Rogue picked up her phone and called Storm.

"He sent you a present?" Storm asked in surprise once Rogue had explained.

"Yeah," Rogue said happily. "I'll send you a picture. I was hoping that you might have his number? I'd like to call him and thank him, but he hasn't given it to me so..."

"Ah. Remy is a little...particular about who he gives his number out to," Storm replied slowly.

"Oh, well, don't worry about it then, I wouldn't want to get you into any trouble," Rogue said quickly, having a good understanding of the need for privacy. "Just, next time you talk to him, could you thank him for me?"

"I can certainly do that."

* * *

The end of the school year arrived, and with it came Kitty, Bobby, and Piotr's graduations. To celebrate, everyone gathered together for a celebratory dinner. Everyone, except Rogue.

In general, Rogue found that attempts to join in on parties and the like were not worth the effort. They usually went on longer than her air supply could last, and she couldn't eat, drink, or even go to the bathroom during the event. There had been a couple of attempts to include Rogue by putting a computer into the room for her to use remotely, but the downside to that was she couldn't move around to talk to people, and people often got so wrapped up in their own thing that they didn't think to include her in their conversations. It was worse than being the loner who sits in the corner, in Rogue's opinion, so she simply threw in the towel on that idea.

So while everyone else was busy enjoying themselves at their dinner party, Rogue was curled up in bed with a good book and a box of chocolates. The cushion she got from Remy was on the bed with her. Periodically she would get up and check security, but it was a quiet night as usual.

* * *

The morning after, Kitty burst into the visitor's lounge, rang the bell, and then bounced around excitedly while she waited impatiently for Rogue to answer. As soon as her friend appeared on the screen, Kitty practically flung herself at it.

"Pete proposed!" Kitty exclaimed before Rogue had a chance to even say hi. "We're getting married!"

Rogue stared dumbfounded at Kitty for a moment, then seemed to remember she should say something, and finally said: "Kitty, that's great news. Congratulations."

"Thank you!" Kitty said, beaming with joy. "He popped the question at dinner last night. Got on his knee and everything. It was so romantic."

"I'm sure it was," Rogue replied wistfully.

"And!" Kitty said empathically, shaking her finger at the screen. "You're not getting out of this one, nu-uh. You're my best friend and I want you at my wedding. Okay, so maybe the reception might not be feasible, but there's no reason why you can't come to the ceremony. And you're coming."

Rogue grinned. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Good," Kitty said, paused for just a moment, and then said: "Okay this just isn't good enough. I have to do something other than just waving my arms around like a madwoman."

Before Rogue could reply, Kitty phased through the door to the storeroom. As soon as she was done throwing on a hazmat suit, Kitty phased through the wall to Rogue's living room. Her eyes landed on Rogue, and in an instant her arms were around her, hugging her tight for all she was worth. Rogue hugged her back with just as much enthusiasm.

"I'm getting married," Kitty said excitedly. "I'm getting married, Rogue."

"I'm very happy for you, sugar," she replied. "I'm very happy for both of you."

* * *

With the end of the school year came the beginning of summer. Kitty took advantage of the break in her schedule to start working on wedding plans. She made a concerted effort to keep Rogue involved, not just because she wanted Rogue to be included, but also because she was quite conscious of how easy it was to exclude Rogue from things without even intending to. It wasn't very noticeable with work, but it was quite apparent in their social lives that Rogue was being more and more left out as time went by. Kitty was determined not to let a little thing like quarantine get in the way of their friendship.

Partway through the summer, most of the staff left to take the students who didn't go home for the holidays out for a few weeks vacation on the other side of the country. The Xavier estate was reduced to a skeleton population. Not all the students and teachers left, either out of lack of desire or other responsibilities. Rogue stayed and she took her responsibilities in security very seriously, not wanting things to get slack just because there weren't as many people there.

One hot Saturday night in the middle of July, Rogue was reading in her comfortably temperate room when an alert went off, signally that someone had opened the front gate without punching in a code. She was up like a shot and checked the respective camera to get a look. It was an older man with white hair and Rogue recognised him instantly: Magneto.

Rogue hit the silent alarm alerting the four other people on the premises to get to the Danger Room. None of them stood a chance against a mutant as powerful as Magneto. Rogue sent a quick message to the sole teacher on the campus, and another to Logan and Storm who were on a date. She hated to interrupt them, but she intended on confronting Magneto herself, and if things went to hell, someone needed to know what had happened.

Rogue changed quickly into her hazmat suit, a task she had become rather proficient at. She checked Magneto's position and growled under her breath at his audacity to walk right through the front door. When she did finally get out, she proceeded to curse Magneto under her breath; the hazmat suit and the hot day were not a good combination at all. She was sweating profusely by the time she got to the mansion and she suspected she was going to be quite dehydrated by the time this was all over.

When she found Magneto, his self-given tour of the school had taken him to the dining hall. He must have heard her arrival, for he turned towards her as she stepped through the door. He seemed surprised by the hazmat suit.

"Where is everyone? What has happened here?" Magneto demanded.

"Summer," Rogue retorted. "What the hell are you doing here, Magneto?"

Magneto didn't reply straight away, rather he studied her face through the helmet.

"Rogue?" he inquired.

"Aw you do remember me," Rogue replied cynically. "I'm just so flattered you remember your former pawn. You have two seconds to state your business before I find out for myself."

She put her hand to the catch for her helmet, half hoping he'd give her the excuse, and half hoping he wouldn't. Her voices were annoying, but far more manageable than they had been before, almost as if it was compensation for her increased absorption prowess. Magneto's eyes settled on her hand, and he muttered something about pawns and queens that the microphone on the outside of Rogue's hazmat suit didn't quite catch. Before she could ask him to repeat it, Magneto pulled out a piece of paper cut out from a newspaper.

"I understand that you're hiring," Magneto said, showing Rogue the advertisement Storm had put out for more teachers.

Rogue looked at the ad and then back up at Magneto. "You're seriously telling me you broke into our home because you want a job?"

"Break in? My dear, the door was open," Magneto replied.

"The door maybe, but not the front gates," Rogue said, glaring at him. "And have you ever heard of this thing call a phone? You know, you use it to ring up and arrange an interview."

"Yes, I have heard of them," Magneto said, and there was something loaded in his tone that Rogue couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Why would you want a job here anyway?" Rogue asked, the hot and stuffiness of her current situation making her uncomfortable and cranky. "Or are you really just looking to recruit a new Brotherhood?"

"This school was part of Charles Xavier's dream. I am here to honour his memory," Magneto said.

Again, Rogue was thrown off by his tone, and at that moment he seemed so very old. Belatedly, she remembered that the X-Men had stopped him at the Battle at Alcatraz by giving him the Cure, and for the majority of the people who took it, the Cure had been permanent. It was only then, up close, that Rogue really noticed the shabby clothing he was wearing. She began to wonder just what had he been doing these last few years. He was a man who likely relied on his powers for everyday life, and without them she could believe he may have been reduced to homelessness.

Perhaps it was against her better judgement, but Rogue couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy and compassion for the old man, too prideful to admit maybe he needed help. And having absorbed the man once, she could easily believe that his desire to honour the memory of his old friend was real. Still, it wasn't she that Magneto had to convince of his sincerity.

"Come," she said finally. "Storm and Logan will be back soon, and until then, I want you right where I can keep an eye on you. This way."

Taking Magneto back to her place probably wasn't the smartest thing to do in terms of overall security, but she needed to get out of the hazmat suit. Her home was probably the only place she could safely unsuit and keep an eye on Magneto at the same time.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Rogue said upon entry. "Make yourself at home. Tea and coffee is over there; I think there might be some cookies in the cupboard. Restroom is over there. And you'll be seeing me on that screen shortly. Do not enter the vestibule."

Rogue couldn't get into her living quarters fast enough. She had her helmet off as soon as the door sealed shut behind her, and continued pulling off the wretched suit as she hit the button that would active the communications between her living room and the visitor's lounge and secure-locked the main door so that Magneto couldn't leave. Once the suit was removed, she grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge and sipped it between switching off the silent alarm and alerting the residents that it was safe to come out. Finally she contacted Logan and Storm to advise them of the situation. They were already on their way back.

"Sorry to have spoiled your date," Rogue said apologetically.

"Ain't your fault, darlin'," Logan said. "You did the right thing."

With all that done, Rogue disappeared into her bedroom and stripped out of her sweaty clothes, replacing them with a pair of short shorts and a tank top. As she emerged, she poured some of the water from her water bottle over herself, desperate to try and cool herself off. She caught Magneto looking at her with something like surprise on his face when she sat down at the lounge, dripping a little water down her shirt in the process.

"Hey, it's a hot day, and I just had to go out in that in a hazmat suit, which aren't exactly known for their spectacular ventilation," Rogue said defensively, abruptly realising how her actions might be coming across to him. "This ain't a show for you, buddy."

Magneto didn't reply. Rogue poured a little water in under her hair and ran her fingers through it. She finally rubbed the excess water on her hands off onto her legs, and drank some more water before setting the bottle on the coffee table.

"Your powers came back stronger than before, didn't they?" Magneto stated.

Rogue shot a look at the man sitting on the lounge. He looked blandly back at her, a mug between his hands.

"What do you know about it?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

Magneto was quiet for a moment, then languidly replied with "Mystique" before taking a sip of his drink. Rogue raised her eyebrows and tried to figure out how an already talented shapeshifter could end up greater still. Perhaps she hadn't. Perhaps her shapeshifting had gone out of control.

"Well, yes, they did," Rogue replied, and decided not to bother elaborating. If he wouldn't, she wouldn't.

The wait for Storm and Logan was spent mostly in silence, but by the time Rogue got the call that they had arrived, she had finally cooled off enough to be comfortable again. She advised Magneto that they had arrived and unlocked the front door so they could come in. Storm and Logan were both still in the good casual clothes they'd worn on their date.

"Thought you could just break into our home and get away with it, eh bub?" Logan demanded, getting right in Magneto's face.

"As I explained to Rogue, the door was open," Magneto replied coolly.

"The gates weren't," Rogue insisted, glaring at him through the screen.

"I am simply here to offer my services as a teacher," Magneto went on, his eyes meeting Storm's. "I understand you're hiring."

"We are," Storm replied with her usual calm. "I am surprised you would be interested in working here, especially given our history."

"My history with Charles Xavier goes back far longer than yours ever did," Magneto replied. "His school is in need of teachers, and I wish to honour his memory."

Logan snorted in disbelief.

"I am aware of your long history," Storm said. "I am also aware that much of the later years of your lives were spent on opposite sides. Even when you professed to be on our side, during that business with Stryker's Cerebro, you still betrayed him by redirecting his focus to humans rather than mutants."

"Yes, I did," Magneto said without the slightest hint of remorse for his actions.

"Then you will forgive me if I believe our philosophical differences may come into conflict," Storm said.

"No doubt they will. Philosophical differences do not prevent me from being able to teach young mutants, however."

"No, they do not. But as a teacher you are in a position to influence the young minds under your care," Storm replied regarding Magneto quite seriously as she spoke. "I do not care for a second Brotherhood to grow within our ranks."

"This is true of all your teachers," Magneto answered. "You know where I stand. Are you sure you know where your current treachers stand? How can you be certain that a 'second Brotherhood' won't grow within your ranks without me?"

"We'll take our chances," said Logan, and gestured to the front door. "There's the door. Don't let it hit you on the way out."

"If I may have a moment to confer with my colleague," Storm said to Magneto, and then glanced at Rogue. "Is the vestibule secure?"

"Of course," Rogue replied.

"Join us." And on those words, Storm led an irate Logan into the vestibule. Rogue switched off the sound to the visitor's lounge and then activated the communications to the vestibule.

"You can't be seriously considering this," Logan demanded of Storm as soon as the door was sealed shut behind them.

"I find myself doing exactly that," Storm replied, looking around the vestibule and wondering whether she should have stayed out in the lounge and sent Magneto in there instead. "Magneto was Charles' friend. I know he would want us to give him a chance."

"If he's really so eager for a job, why didn't he call first?" Logan said.

"Perhaps he thought he was better off making his case in person," Storm said. "And on a hot day such as this, I can understand why he might let himself in."

"Maybe he couldn't call," Rogue said, and the couple turned to see her face on the small screen by her front door. "Public phones are pretty much extinct nowadays, and well, he's not exactly wearing his best clothes, now is he? I'm kinda wondering if he's homeless now."

"There is a bit of a smell..." Storm said thoughtfully, trying to concentrate on the matter on hand and not on how the walls of the vestibule felt like they were closing in on her.

"Maybe he is, but we can't go giving him a job here just 'cause we feel sorry for him," Logan insisted. "We've got the students to think about."

"On the bright side, if he is here, we can keep an eye on him," Rogue said.

"Since when are you on his side?" Logan said, glaring at Rogue, while simultaneously becoming aware of Storm's increase in heart rate.

"I'm not, I'm just..." Rogue trailed off and shrugged. "Playing Devil's Advocate, I guess. I'd probably be arguing the opposite if you were for him staying."

"I just feel," Storm said, fighting to keep her voice steady, "that this is what the Professor would want us to do. And if he is sincere, he could have a great deal to offer us."

"Fine," Logan snapped. "How does a probation period sound?"

Logan hated the idea himself, but he could see that Storm's claustrophobia was getting to her, and he could see that the only way to get her out of the vestibule was to end the 'discussion'. It was clear that he wouldn't be arguing her out of the insanity of hiring Magneto any time soon.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Storm said.

"Good," Logan replied, and quickly headed back the way they came so that Storm could get out. His eyes focused coldly on Magneto. "Congratulations, you have a job on probation. Let me show you to your room. We can work out the details of what you're teaching tomorrow."

* * *

As most of the other residents of Xavier's were away, the next few weeks were spent in quiet anticipation of the storm yet to come when the rest of the X-Men found out. While Storm and Logan made their preparations to deal with it, Rogue only had to upgrade the security settings to Logan's requirements in case of "Magneto-related emergencies" but otherwise she went about her usual routine as normal.

A week and a half later, Rogue was having her hazmat training session in the Danger Room. Once she noted she was getting dangerously low on air, she took her helmet off and stopped the program. She took a few deep breaths and made an awkward attempt to wipe the sweat from her brow. As she walked over to the space near the door where she had left a spare air cylinder in a cart and a bottle of water, she heard Magneto's voice over the speakers:

"Tell me, Rogue, what are you trying to accomplish here? Asphyxiate yourself?"

Rogue was far too hot and short of breath to reply, and she drank some water before she finally responded.

"I don't see how anything I do here is any of your damn business," she said. Her voice was quiet, but she knew that the Danger Room microphones would have no issues picking it up.

"I believe it is, if you're doing an unsupervised solo session involving something that could easily get yourself killed," Magneto replied imperiously.

"Well, this is the _Danger_ Room."

"Yes, but not the Stupid Room."

"Look," Rogue said, turning her head to glare up at the control room window. "I need to be able to defend myself in my hazmat suit, should the worst happen."

"I agree," Magneto said, looking down on her. "But hand to hand combat will only force you to exert yourself, thereby using up your air faster."

"Really? I never would have guessed that," Rogue replied sarcastically.

"Then why do you persist in this futile course of action? If you cannot take out your opponents quickly, you will use up all your air trying. All they have to do is keep you dancing, and you will take out yourself for them," Magneto informed her matter-of-factly. "And even if you succeeded, it would still take time for you to slow your breathing down, and you would still end up low on air, if not out of it completely. Add to that, your suit clearly isn't intended for this kind of work; it restricts your movement, and anyone with a knife or a bullet can put a hole in it, thus defeating the purpose of wearing it in the first place."

"Still not telling me anything I don't know," Rogue retorted. "Oh, and you also forget to mention that carrying around the weighty air cylinder is a hindrance and a weakness that can be used against me, and that the helmet kills my peripheral vision. Now, unless you have something worthwhile to say, I'd like to get back to my training in peace. This might not be the most ideal way to enter battle, and it's one I'd like to avoid, but I'd rather have some experience in fighting this way than none at all."

"There are other ways to fight in a hazmat suit without unnecessarily exerting yourself," Magneto said coolly.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Rogue demanded.

"Computer: End current program and run Firing Range Three, authorisation Magneto Alpha 62," Magneto said.

The simulation switched to an outdoor firing range, with targets at one end, and a table full of ranged weapons behind the firing line. Rogue took another swig of her water and wandered over to the table.

"I didn't realise you had been given that kind of access to the Danger Room," Rogue said, taking in the number of potentially lethal weapons just lying around and realising that this was not a program that just anyone in the school would be permitted to run. "I don't want to kill anyone. That's a...talent...that comes far too easily to me nowadays."

She hadn't forgotten—couldn't forget—how she stripped the land of all life within a few weeks, up to and including about three or four feet below the surface. They weren't entirely certain how she managed that, but they suspected things like root systems, ant nests, and the like were what granted her powers access.

"All the more reason for you to learn how to shoot," Magneto replied. "An amateur shoots to kill and hopes to hit something. A master shoots to wound and knows they'll succeed. Besides, no one said you had to use a lethal weapon; I know how much you X-Men hate killing."

Rogue could practically hear Magneto rolling his eyes at that sentiment.

"I'm sure that a tranquilliser gun will serve you just as well," he said. "You do seem to have a talent for knocking people out."

"Oh very funny," Rogue said cynically, although she hadn't at all expected to hear Magneto make a joke.

There was no reply and when she looked up at the control room she didn't see him. She sighed and looked back down at the weapons. As much as it galled her to admit it, he was right; the hazmat suit was not suited to hand to hand combat, as much as she loved a good brawl. She reluctantly picked up one of the guns, not really inclined towards any kind of weapon—her fists were good enough for her—and put it back down again when she realised that the gloves made her fingers far too fat to use the trigger. She continued down the line of weapons until she found one she thought she would actually be able to use in the hazmat suit and began to practice.

* * *

There was no shortage of fussing when the rest of the X-Men found out that Magneto was now among their ranks. No one was happy about it, but Magneto—who preferred everyone to call him Erik Lehnsherr—didn't seem concerned by their opinions of him. He was rarely invited to socialise with them, but that didn't seem to bother him either as he rarely sought the company of others.

Unexpectedly, Rogue found herself to be the one person most likely to have his company. At first it just seemed like a natural consequence of neither party participating in group socialisation, but then Rogue found out that Magneto was an engineer. She didn't know why this revelation surprised her, as she had known that he built the machine that almost killed her and he also helped Professor Xavier build Cerebro. For whatever reason, Rogue imagined that he had simply been responsible for the 'grunt work' but then, Mystique had also known how to sabotage it. It got Rogue to wondering if he might have had a hand in designing and building the Danger Room as well, but she could never get him to say so one way or the other, and for whatever reason Rogue hadn't picked up on Magneto's engineering prowess when she absorbed him so many years ago.

In any case, Rogue hadn't realised how much she missed being able to talk about the nitty gritty details of what she was learning in college with others and in Magneto she found a kind of mentor. During their meetings they would converse over a game of chess, and Rogue found that she actually enjoyed his company. If anyone had told her five years ago that she would start playing chess with the man who once considered her death to be necessary collateral damage she would have laughed in their face.

Magneto was most put upon one day not long after the start of the school year when he was asked to take Rogue's mail to her "since you're going there anyway." Nevertheless, he left the package from Spain for Rogue on the table in the vestibule and then sat down for the game they had planned. Since she was already set up, Rogue was quick to retrieve the package, remembering what happened last time she got an unexpected delivery from overseas.

"I was right, it's from him," she said happily as she inspected the parcel.

"And who might that be?" Magneto inquired as he set up the chess pieces on the board.

"Oh, uh, a friend of mine," Rogue said, deciding if Gambit was going to send her presents, she should be referring to him as a friend rather than an acquaintance. "He travels a lot."

Magneto didn't reply and she opened up the box eagerly. Inside were five smaller boxes, each containing a figurine of a flamenco dancer with a different coloured dress: red, yellow, blue, fuchsia, and green. As before, there was a note:

_It occurs to me I have no idea what your favourite colour is._

Rogue giggled at that. She opened up one of the boxes to take a better look at the figurine and marvelled at just how beautiful she was until Magneto informed her that he was ready to start.

Later that evening, long after her game with Magneto was over, Rogue received notice from the mansion that a Remy LeBeau was on the phone for her. Rogue couldn't answer the phone fast enough.

"Hi Remy!" she said, knowing that she probably sounded a little over-excited. "How are you? How's Spain? I got your presents. Well, both of them. I mean, the one from Spain and the one from France. I love both of them. Thank you sooooo much! I never expected you to get me anything, especially since we barely know each other."

Gambit chuckled lightly and Rogue thought it was the sexist laugh she ever heard. Later she realised that she really had it bad for Gambit, and suspected that her 'little' crush was never going to go away.

"You're quite welcome, ma chère," he said. "I figured since you can't go to the world, may as well bring the world to you, hein?"

Rogue laughed. "I won't complain."

"Spain was good, since you asked," Gambit went on. "I'm in Monte Carlo now."

"Just so you know, I'm completely jealous of you right now," Rogue informed him, laying back on the lounge with the phone to her ear.

"I can honestly say no one's ever said that to me before," Gambit replied, feeling rather satisfied for deciding to call. "Usually they're saying the opposite."

"Then they must be stupid," Rogue said, then rolled on her stomach. "Soooo got yourself a new lady friend?"

"Well, I did have a fascinating conversation with a lovely woman from Venice just this morning, but it turned out she was married so I don't think it'll amount to much," Gambit said, sounding amused.

"Aw. What about before today, while you were in France or Spain? Meet anyone interesting?" Rogue asked.

"There might have been a couple. Why do you ask?"

"I just love a good romance story."

"Does it have to be _good_?"

"Good is a relative term in this context."

Gambit chuckled. "Well, there was this woman in Madrid..."

Rogue listened intently while Gambit gave a brief account of his fling; how they met, the more G-rated things they did together, and then a romanticised variation of their parting. Rogue sighed happily at the end of it.

"And what about you?" Gambit asked. "Any romance in your life since we last spoke?"

"Nah, not unless Fabio counts," Rogue replied.

"Been hitting up the Harlequin, hein?"

"Hell yes," she said. "I'm just not even going to bother trying to date right now. I had a boyfriend while I was just untouchable and that was hard enough. I think it would be outright impossible when I can't even share the same air supply. So instead, I shall be living vicariously through everyone else's, whether real or fictional."

"Hmm, so in other words next time we speak I should have a story about my love life ready?" Gambit asked, sounding more amused than annoyed.

"Absolutely. Unless you think I'm prying, in which case feel free to tell me to mind my own business," Rogue answered cheerfully.

"Well, I don't at the moment, but I'll keep that in mind if things change," Gambit said, sincerely doubting that would ever happen. "So, how's things with you, anyway? College? X-Men?"

"College is good. It was a little weird doing everything by correspondence at first, but I'm mostly gotten used to it. I miss not being able to talk about the assignments with other students though," Rogue replied. "Oh, and I'm more-or-less second-in-command of security now, under Logan. They figure my little 'fort' is a secure enough place to consolidate security in case of emergency and all that jazz."

"Probably right there," Gambit said, wondering if Rogue would have actually admitted that if she knew what he really did for a living. Perhaps one day he'd tell her.


	4. That First Step

Years since Rogue's powers returned: **2-3**

**Chapter 4: That First Step**

Rogue frowned when she looked in on the visitor's lounge and found Hank and Emma there with two plants sealed in airtight containers. She had been expecting Hank and Emma, but she hadn't been expecting the plants.

"Hi," she said, eyeing the plants uncertainly. "So, what's happening?"

"We're going to make the first step to getting your powers under control," Hank said, regarding Rogue seriously. "We are going to take this slowly as we don't want to stress your system. To begin with, we'll be doing a few control tests, and assuming we don't find anything worrisome, we will leave you to practice in your own time and do regular check ups. Now, I assume you haven't absorbed anything significant lately?"

"Nope, just that one big ol' absorption, what, two years ago now?" Rogue replied. "More than two years, I guess. I suppose I have continued to absorb micro-organisms, but the only time I notice it is when I've just opened up a new pack of cheese or something. Or when I take off my suit in the Danger Room, come to think of it. I usually pick up a bunch of stuff then."

"Many small things at once," Hank reiterated with a nod, understanding. "Good. Well, I shall change, then we shall conduct a few preliminary tests, followed by our first test absorptions on these plants, and finally some follow up tests. Emma and I will both be monitoring you in our own ways during the absorptions."

"Very well," Rogue said. "Let me know when you're ready to start."

While Hank got into his hazmat suit, Emma settled herself on the lounge and began her preliminary scans on Rogue's mind. Her scan confirmed what she already knew—Rogue had fully recovered from her previous trauma—and reaffirmed the current status of her mind so that Emma had a fresh image to compare the effects of the upcoming absorptions to.

Emma moved into the observation room when Hank stepped into the med bay with the two plants, still in their airtight containers. Once the door was sealed, Rogue walked into the med bay and sat down on the bed while Hank hooked her up to various devices intended to monitor her life signs and neural activity. Hank then checked that the camera was operating, and finally lifted up one of the plants.

"Control test one," Hank said after announcing the date. "Proximity absorption only."

He unsealed the container and lifted the lid. Rogue gave a light gasp as she felt her powers take the lives of the micro-organisms on the plant, which then settled down to a faint, consistent pull of life from the plant itself. Rogue stared at the plant while Hank and Emma made their notes.

The month following the return of her powers was such a blur in Rogue's memory that she'd hadn't been truly confronted with the reality that she could absorb plants now. Even after seeing the new growth in the field of black where she had taken refuge, being able to absorb plants had just been an abstract notion. Now she was fully conscious of the stream of life flowing into her from the plant and it sent a shiver down her spine.

Hank shut the plant up again, and Rogue felt it as the stream of life was cut off. She shuddered with relief. He and Emma made additional notes, checking the results of their devices and telepathy to determine the affects on Rogue now that she was no longer absorbing anything. Once they were ready, Hank picked up the second plant.

"Control test two," Hank said. "Part one, proximity absorption."

He unsealed the container and lifted the lid. Once again, Rogue felt an initial burst of life enter her as all the micro-organisms died, and then a light stream of life force from the plant itself. Hank and Emma took a quick moment to check the results, and then Hank set the pot on Rogue's lap.

"Part two, physical absorption," he said, then smiled down at Rogue. "Now we find out for certain what your skin can do."

Rogue nodded and took a deep breath, having no real idea of what to expect. There had been no documented evidence of what happened when she touched someone—or something—these days, and Rogue didn't know if she had touched anything when she had been living outdoors for that month. She probably had, but she simply couldn't remember it.

She lifted her hand and did no more than brush one of the leaves with her bare finger when every ounce of life force remaining inside the plant flowed into her in a torrent. The plant withered and died within only a second. Rogue reefed her hands away, her body jerked back and the plant would have fallen on the floor had Hank not caught it. He quickly sealed the dead remains away and politely ignored Rogue's panicked string of expletives.

All Rogue could think about at that moment was that she had never been able to absorb plants before the Cure. Ever. And if she could do this to a plant, what could she do to a human? Visions of her friends withering away to little more than skeletons flashed across her eyes, and she choked on tears she hadn't cried.

_"Rogue, stop that,"_ Emma scolded her telepathically. _"Hysteria will accomplish nothing."_

"It is quite all right, Rogue," Hank said, oblivious to what Emma had said. "It was to be expected that touch would be far more potent than proximity. I'm sure that doesn't make the application any less alarming to watch, but since the precautions we've taken to avoid proximity absorptions also work against physical absorptions. I assure you, we're in no danger."

Rogue buried her face in her hands and attempted to calm herself down. Hank and Emma finished doing their checks then Hank interrupted Rogue's reverie to do a blood test. He wasn't really expecting anything earth shattering to come of the blood test; he'd already had the earth shattering news from previous ones. It was impossible for him to extract a sample of Rogue's DNA from a blood sample because she seemed to imprint the DNA from every creature she absorbed. He couldn't even confirm this theory for there were too many strands of DNA in her blood for him to even consider trying to sort one from the other. It would be like attempting to put together a hundred different jigsaw puzzles when the pieces had been mixed up with each other.

* * *

Testing with Hank and Emma continued once a week for the next four weeks, and then they began to decrease the interval between tests by a day. Rogue simultaneously dreaded and looked forward to the tests. The worst part was seeing the plant she touched shrivel up at the mere brush of her finger. She hated that more than she could put into words.

Once Hank and Emma were satisfied that the absorptions weren't causing any trauma to Rogue's system, they stopped the physical tests, and simply gave her a solitary plant. The plant was to live in Rogue's home with her, and they would be testing how long it lasted, and again, what the impact was on Rogue. Rogue, while she didn't really enjoy having to endure the continuous stream of life, found this test much more tolerable. The plant lasted a week before she drained it completely.

"I don't get it," she said to Hank on the day of review. "Didn't you say it took me three weeks before I completely drained the area outside?"

"Yes, but the 'hold outs' were the trees. Obviously, they contain a lot more life force than this little plant did," Hank replied as he prepared the remains of the plant for further analysis. "Additionally, you had a lot more targets, which may or may not have an impact. These are the kinds of things we are trying to find out. I know its slow going at the moment, but the more we learn now, the better it will be for you later."

"I do not mind going slow at all if it means I'll have control one day."

"That's the plan, Rogue. That's the plan."

Over the next few months, Hank continued to leave plants in Rogue's care. The most any of them lasted was ten days. Once Hank was satisfied he had a reliable average, he slowly began increasing the number of plants to determine if the number of sources of life force had any impact on Rogue's ability to absorb them. Emma regularly checked up on Rogue telepathically to ensure that the impact of absorbing all that life energy wasn't harming her.

While all this was going on, life continued. Rogue kept up with her studies and her training. She worked with Logan in regards to keeping on top of security, including coming up with new drills. She got better at chess, although she suspected she would never reach Magneto's level, at least, not before he died of old age or something. She periodically got calls from Remy, whom she had given her mobile number so he could call her directly. He had yet to give her his number in return, but Rogue wasn't concerned by that.

Rogue also assisted Kitty in her wedding plans. Initially she was mostly a sounding board, but getting closer to the big date, Rogue started spending a lot of time making decorations and party favours for the reception.

"So you're not going?" Gambit asked her.

"I can't," Rogue replied, making party favours while talking to Gambit on speaker phone. "Well, I could, but I wouldn't be able to stay very long for want of air. Besides I wouldn't be able to eat or drink, and I sure wouldn't be able to go to the restroom either."

"What about video conferencing?"

"Been there, done that. Trust me, trying to join in on a party via computer is a lost cause," Rogue said. "It's okay. I'm used to it. I'm going to the ceremony and I'll give them my official wedding day best wishes before I leave. And the present. I bought them a wedding album."

"What are you going to do then?" Gambit asked.

"Oh, I'll probably end up bumming around at home. Erik hasn't been invited at all, so he might drop by at some point."

"More chess, hein?"

"It's something to do. And it's kinda nice, you know, just doing something with someone in companionable silence," Rogue said, carefully applying the glue to the coloured cardboard.

"Hmm. I think one of these days I'm going to have to meet this gentleman caller of yours."

Rogue pulled a face and paused in the middle of folding the cardboard over and pressing it into the glue.

"Gentleman caller?" she repeated. "Please, please, please don't ever refer to Erik like that again."

Gambit chuckled.

"I'm not the slightest bit interested in him," she went on, "and I would be very worried if I found out he was at all interested in me like that. But thanks to you, I now have to scrub out my brain."

"I'm sure he'll be very disappointed to hear that."

"Can we please change the subject?" Rogue asked, resuming her creation of the party favour box. "I would really like to be able to look him in the eye later and not have this conversation replay through my head. So, how many women have you gone through this week?"

"That's such a classy way of putting it, chère," Gambit replied in mild admonishment.

"I can phrase it even 'classier' if you want..."

"Heh. Actually this week I hooked up with an, umm, old flame of mine here in Paris. She's a regular client of mine, so this happens a lot," Gambit said musingly. "Sometimes I think she hires me for jobs just so she can see me again."

"Aw. I don't know if that's sweet or pathetic," Rogue said.

"I wouldn't read too much into it, chère. We'd just get bored with each other if we ever bothered to get seriously involved. The occasional fling suits us pretty well."

* * *

It started with a misunderstanding, ignorance, and poorly chosen words.

A boy of a meagre thirteen years arrived at the hospital with his mother in tow. What the boy was capable of doing was never quite clear afterwards, but they had gone there because they suspected he might be a mutant manifesting powers. They were told they didn't handle mutants there, and to go elsewhere.

What the hospital really meant was not that they wouldn't treat mutants, only that they didn't have the facilities to deal with mutant powers. But that wasn't what was said, and it certainly wasn't what was told to the world at large. Peaceful protesters set up shop outside the hospital. They didn't hinder anyone's entry or exit from the hospital, they just wanted to be heard.

Unfortunately, not all the protesters were peaceful.

The situation escalated quickly. The police were brought in to deal with the protesters, and then Mystique's Brotherhood showed up to deal with the police and with the hospital. The X-Men showed up to deal with the Brotherhood, evacuate the hospital, and rescue the police and the protesters.

Finally, S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived, arrested Pyro and Avalanche (who were the only members of the Brotherhood whom the X-Men had succeeded in catching) and to send everyone else scurrying home. Only the X-Men remained, helping the hospital to get all the patients (new and old) to another hospital, one that was actually intact and functional.

There were plenty of people who chose to side with one group or another. They were so caught up in their belief that they were right that they couldn't see the other side's perspective at all, and weren't at all open to the idea that perhaps they were both right and both wrong. All mutants were evil. All humans were racist.

It was on the "all mutants are evil" platform that Graydon Creed stood up on as a presidential candidate, although he was a bit more subtle about it officially. In fact, after using up half his breath to admonish the mutants for their brutal attack on the hospital (completely omitting that some of the mutants had actually helped recover the situation), he used the other half to advocate mutant specialist facilities. Hank, (who only attended to Rogue in between his duties as Secretary of Mutant Affairs), had only met Graydon once, but it was enough to make him suspicious of any positive or accommodating comments Graydon made towards the mutant community.

* * *

"Pyro, Avalanche, and Sabretooth we know," Storm said later in the War Room, when the X-Men finally had a chance to review the mission. "Mystique was undoubtedly there, but we didn't see her."

"Didn't smell her either," Logan added.

"It's this one we need to identify," Storm went on, gesturing to a picture of the unknown new member of the Brotherhood taken from some of the footage gathered by a news crew. The woman was covered from head to toe, with a cloak and a mask over her face.

"She was good," said Kitty, shaking her head. "She kept shouting instructions to the rest of the Brotherhood so they'd get out of the way right before we hit them."

"Or make us run into each other," Bobby muttered under his breath, before saying more loudly: "How the hell did she see out of that mask anyway? It has no eye holes."

"That is because she does not need them," Magneto said, and everyone turned to look at him, except for Rogue as the camera she was watching from wasn't pointed in his direction. "Her name is Destiny. She has precognitive powers, and she is blind."

"No way," said Jubilee. "She's blind?"

"Hey, why would you need to see in the present if you can see the future?" Sam asked.

"I can think of a few reasons," Emma said drolly.

"She's an old friend of Mystique's," Magneto went on. "She disappeared a few years ago, and I was under the impression that she had died. Apparently this is not the case."

Storm nodded.

"Thank you for the information, Erik," she said. "It is good to know what we are up against, even if it is not something we can train for."

"I wonder if I can program a sim for the Danger Room where the bad guys occasionally do completely random dodges," Kitty said thoughtfully, staring off above everyone's heads while she contemplated the idea. "Like, you're fighting, and everything's normal, but then at random intervals they do something that's um, out of character."

"It may be worth playing with," Storm said with a nod towards Kitty. "After all, the Danger Room can only prepare us so far; in the real world, as we all already know, people do not behave quite as consistently."

"I would think that there'd be more to precognition than just predicting the immediate strokes of a battle," Rogue said, her voice carrying loud and clear over the speakers. "There'd be lots of environmental factors to take into account. Like, Pyro's fires, right? Say he sets a fire, but something happens to knock him out so he loses control, presumably Destiny would know how those fires are going to burn out, and what they would take with them. A place that might look safe to begin with may become a danger zone very quickly, and if she was so inclined, she could steer us over there."

For some reason Rogue couldn't quite put her finger on, Destiny reminded her of her old neighbour, Irene Alder from back in Mississippi. Irene was blind too, and Rogue could distinctly recall being creeped out by some of the things that Irene had known and been able to do. In hindsight, Rogue couldn't decide if her younger self had been a bit ableist, or if Irene really was that creepy.

"A valid point, and again, not something we can really train for," Storm said. "Still, all the more reason to listen out for what Destiny has to say."

"Well, for that matter, how do we know that she hasn't spoken to everyone in advance of the fight?" Bobby said.

"Because outside of the battlefield, Destiny is very vague and reluctant to speak of what she sees," Magneto said. "Her primary concern is for the big picture, always. Pyro and Avalanche got arrested. I have no doubt that Destiny saw it and chose to let it happen, for reasons she will not divulge, not even to Mystique, unless it suits her purpose."

"And just what is her purpose?" Logan asked.

"Who can know the goals and dreams of one who sees the future?"

* * *

Rogue ignored the stares she got from Kitty and Piotr's friends and family outside of the X-Men. No matter what Kitty had done to "pretty up" her hazmat suit, it was still a hazmat suit, and it looked decidedly out of place at Kitty and Piotr's outdoor wedding.

Although she was very happy for Kitty and Piotr, Rogue was just a little bit envious of Kitty's bridesmaids. Kitty and Rogue had never discussed Rogue being a part of the bridal party. It was one of those things they both knew wasn't going to happen, and talking about it just would have only made both sides unhappy. On the bright side, Rogue had been able to host Kitty's bachelorette party in her visitor's lounge so she hadn't missed out on that at least.

She felt sweat trickle down her forehead and tried to ignore it and concentrate on the ceremony. Even with the cooling vest on, she was much too hot. She had found a place in the shade, but it wasn't really enough. Trying to concentrate on the ceremony was hard enough as it was, as between the breeze blowing away from her and the distance, Rogue couldn't hear a word that was being said.

Then Piotr crushed the glass beneath his foot and everyone shouted "Mazel Tov!" Rogue said this in her normal speaking voice, knowing that the speakers on the hazmat suit would project her voice quite nicely without any need to speak louder than normal. She applauded too, although that noise was muffled by her gloves.

The photographs began, and everyone gathered for the big group shot. Rogue stood off to the side for that, but after it was taken, Kitty immediately tracked her down (not a difficult task) and insisted on her presence in the next few photos.

"I should be going now," Rogue said reluctantly after the fourth photo.

"Running low on air, huh?" Kitty asked regretfully.

"I have about twenty minutes left," Rogue replied. "And I really need some water."

"Okay," Kitty said, and hugged her tightly. "I wish you could stay."

"So do I," Rogue said, hugging her back. "Congratulations, sugar. I hope you have a great honeymoon."

"I will, thank you," Kitty replied.

"Thank you for joining us, Rogue," Piotr said, and he hugged Rogue too when Kitty let go.

"Thanks for inviting me, and for making sure I could attend," Rogue replied, hugging him tightly. "I'm sure that the school wasn't your first choice of location."

"The company is more important than the location," Piotr insisted as they broke away. "It was an easy decision to make."

"Thanks, sugar," Rogue said. "Congratulations again, and I wish you both all the happiness in the world."

"Keep some for yourself," Kitty told her firmly.

Rogue chuckled, and they soon parted ways. Rogue said goodbye to others as she headed for home, and she was both relieved and sad when she walked through the door. She stripped off and immediately felt her powers kick in as they started absorbing life from the four plants in her home that were the current experiment.

She tried not to think about it as she finished undressing, and had a shower to wash away all the sweat and cool herself down. No sooner than she left the bathroom, but her phone rang. This surprised her as most of the people who rang her were at the wedding, and she smiled when she saw Remy's name appear on the screen.

"Hi Remy," she said, setting the phone to take the call on speaker.

"Bonjour Roguey," Gambit replied. "How was the wedding?"

"It was good. Everything went well," Rogue said as she continued to dry herself off. "I couldn't hear a word of the ceremony, but I don't need a microphone to see what was going on."

Gambit chuckled.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Rogue asked, dropping her towel on the floor on the way to her bedroom.

"I just wanted to hear your beautiful voice," Gambit replied.

"Charmer," she said, secretly pleased but unwilling to let him know that.

"It's like listening to a symphonic melody."

"Music to your ears?"

"Exactly."

Rogue snickered as she started pulling out clothes. "Does that line work on all the girls?"

"Nah, just the ones who like metaphors, or who I can get a laugh out of," Gambit replied cheerfully, and he grinned when Rogue chuckled again.

"Well, your voice is like listening to liquid chocolate," she informed him.

"Ooh, I like that one," Gambit said. "Let's see, when I listen to you speak, I become so enraptured that I lose myself in the moment."

"Sugar, the only voice you lose yourself in is your own."

"If we could bottle the sound of your voice, I would bathe in it."

"You're not testing out new pick up lines on me, are you?"

Gambit chuckled. "Nah. Actually, my favourite pick up line is—wait for it, it'll blow your mind—Bonjour, I'm Remy, and you are?"

"Now that one I like," Rogue said approvingly.

"It usually works pretty well," he said. "Soooo, when's your gentleman caller coming by?"

Rogue pulled a face as she dressed. "Please stop referring to Erik as my 'gentleman caller'."

"But chère, he is a gentleman who's been calling on you..."

"You're a bad, bad man."

"Rats, you've figured me out already."

"You know, by that logic you're a gentleman caller too," Rogue said sweetly.

"And I'm lusting after you like you wouldn't believe," Gambit replied good-naturedly. "Plus I'm bitterly jealous of Erik, and if I ever lay my eyes on him, there's going to be a fight, chère. I'm just warning you now."

Rogue's laughter was momentarily cut off while she pulled her shirt on over her head. "Uh huh, yeah, sure. So, who are you dating now, lover-boy?"

"Oh, no one exciting."

"No one exciting? So you are seeing someone, they just bore you?" Rogue asked as she lay down on her bed.

"Umm, yes..."

"Then why are you seeing her?" Rogue asked teasingly, having a feeling she knew exactly why he was with her.

Gambit cleared his throat. "She was in the right place at the right time."

"I just bet she was. So, are you going to break up with her before or after you leave the country?"

"Very funny," Gambit said, paused, and then added with a note of suspicion: "Before."

Rogue giggled.

"How's college?" Gambit asked, deciding that a change in subject was very much in order.

"Fine. Erik and I have been talking a lot lately about living in space and stuff," Rogue said musingly. "The more we talk about it, the more excited I get. I really like the idea of designing a space station, or a moon base or something."

"You wanna live in space, eh, chère?"

"Aside from the gravity thing, I practically do already."

Gambit chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you and Erik will be very happy together."

"You suck beyond belief, Remy LeBeau."

"I have only just begun to suck."

"That worries me," she replied dryly and put her legs up in the air, resting them against the wall. "So, what new and exciting places have you been?"

"Actually, I'm back home in New Orleans at the moment," Gambit replied. "Family event."

"Oh cool," Rogue said, considered, and then asked: "Is that good or bad?"

"Good, good," Gambit assured her with a chuckle. "It's a bit of a family reunion. A really big one, extended family and all. A lot of the family travel, so it's been years since I've last seen any of them. I've spoken to mon frère and mon père a lot on the phone, but not so much in person, so I'm looking forward to it."

"Well, I hope you enjoy yourself then, and everything goes well."

"I'm sure it will, but thanks. How's the experimenting going?"

Rogue gave a dramatic sigh as she became conscious of the four plants her powers were busy sucking dry.

"It's going," she said glumly. "I get what Hank wants to do—establish a baseline for comparison—but I wish we'd get on with it. I hate sitting in here, sucking up plant life twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Only time I get a relief from my powers and from my hazmat suit these days is when I'm in the Danger Room."

"How much longer is this experimenting going to take, do you know?"

"Until Hank runs out of ideas for things to test, I guess. No offence, Remy, but I really don't want to think about this right now. It's depressing."

There was a long pause, and then Gambit asked cautiously: "Is it just the circumstances, or do you actually feel depressed? Because in all honestly, chère, you've been stuck in there what? Three years now? I'd be going nuts."

"Culture shock," Rogue said, half joking. "You'd be suffering culture shock from the lack of culture shock, you world traveller you."

"Rogue—"

"I get what you're asking, sugar, and I appreciate the concern," she assured him. "And you're not the only one who's concerned about my long term mental and emotional well being, believe me. The experimenting has been going on for the better part of a year, so when I'm done sucking the life out of these plants I'm going to have a break. It's like any other work, I guess; it drains you after awhile and you just need to get away."

"But you can't really have a vacation, can you?"

"With a porta-a-potty and a food and water supply, I could vacation in the Danger Room."

Gambit laughed. "Are you going to?"

"Nah, port-a-pottys are gross. Besides, I don't think I'd get much of a chance to use it for a two week vacation, or even just one week. Even during our low population times there's always someone who wants to use it," she said ruefully. "Don't worry about it, Remy. I can't go on vacation, but that doesn't mean I can't still escape. I can't go to the movies with my friends, but that doesn't mean I can't still watch movies with my friends. The thing that I want the second most in the world is to have control over my powers, but what I want the more than that is to live. Live, not simply survive. And I'm not going to let my lack of control or the down times get in the way of that. We all have our down periods. I've never let them rule my life before though, and I'm sure not going to start letting them now."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Gambit said warmly. "But, ah, I think I'll still give you something I should have given you long before now. Got something to write with?"

"Hang on," Rogue replied.

She got up off the bed, taking the phone with her, and headed out to the computer in the living room where she pulled up a word document.

"Okay," she said. "Proceed."

And much to her surprise, Gambit gave her his phone number.

"Call me any time," he said as she stared at the number on the screen. "I mean that seriously. If it's a bad time for someone to call me my phone will be off."

"Wow, thank you," Rogue replied a little shyly. "I wasn't really expecting... Storm said you were particular about who you gave your number to."

"Well, I am but I'm not," Gambit replied awkwardly. "I mean, we're friends, right? And my friends get my number. I just tend to... I'm not going to give my number to someone I've just met, y'know?"

"You don't give out your number to girls you don't intend to see again?" Rogue asked teasingly.

"Something like that. And I have every intention of seeing you again."

"Well, that's good. Otherwise I'd have to start wondering about your intentions towards me, what with all the presents and the phone calls..."

"Oh good," Gambit said in a tone of voice that had Rogue imagining him playing with an imaginary beard. "You haven't yet cottoned onto my evil scheme."

"And what evil scheme is that?"

"Evil scheme? Did I say 'evil scheme'? I meant 'angelic ploy'."

"Uh huh," Rogue replied in amusement.

* * *

A few hours later, Rogue was playing chess with Magneto via the screens linking her living room and the visitor's lounge. They were conversing on the matter of providing a sustainable, breathable atmosphere in a space-bound dwelling, when there was a buzz at Rogue's computer indicating that a call was coming in. If she hadn't spoken to Gambit earlier, she would have thought it was him, despite the fact that he didn't usually talk to her via computer.

"Excuse me a moment," Rogue said to Magneto, and then pressed the button that would answer the call and place the caller on another screen. A man she had never met before appeared, but going from the eye patch and the uniform, Rogue assumed it was Nick Fury.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"At least one of you damn X-Men are home," Nick Fury replied.

"That's about the size of it," Rogue said drolly. "And you are?"

Nick Fury glared at her as if he thought she was trying to be funny. Rogue simply locked with his eyes and waited patiently.

"Nick Fury," he said. "Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D., and you know that perfectly well, young lady."

"You can try that tone on me to your heart's content, but despite the fact that you might know who I am—being responsible for my current living arrangements—I have never met you before," Rogue replied firmly. "And if there has been a formal introduction, then it was during the period right after my powers came back, because I can remember precious little from that time. Oh, but since I have you, don't think I've forgotten about S.H.I.E.L.D. spying on me. I'm grateful for your assistance, but that does not excuse you putting cameras in the bed and bathrooms. I have yet to receive any sort of apology or even just assurance that I haven't ended up in someone's porn collection."

Nick Fury looked at her in silence for a moment, then seemed to realise that he wasn't going to get anywhere with her unless she got satisfaction.

"We felt it was a necessary precaution at the time. It was early days and a new situation, and we were concerned you might hurt yourself, or hurt others. We also wanted to be prepared for all possibilities. Let me assure you that all...personal...footage was only viewed by female agents, and was immediately destroyed," he said.

"The fact that anyone viewed it is humiliating, regardless of intent," Rogue insisted.

"Noted. And since those cameras have been disabled, it is no longer a problem."

"Yeah, I notice that you were pretty quick to send someone in to fix the 'problem'. Just when were you planning on disabling them? Or were you?" Rogue asked, and when he didn't reply immediately, added: "And you, an officer and a gentleman."

"Where are the X-Men, Rogue?" Fury asked.

"A wedding."

"Well tell them they need to have better communications procedures," Fury said. "I've been trying to contact them for the last two hours—"

"Did you use the emergency call line?" Rogue asked. "They were supposed to forward it to me before they left."

"Yes I did, so no they didn't," Fury replied with a cold voice that matched his name. "And now the Brotherhood have broken out their two friends from our prison."

"What about the Avengers?"

"Other side of the country on a mission I couldn't pull them out of."

"Convenient."

"A little too convenient for my taste. What wedding was this?"

"Shadowcat and Colossus. Everyone's there, including the students who couldn't go home for the summer."

"In other words, anyone could have known the X-Men would be occupied today."

"Yep."

"Alright. Let the X-Men know I called and that Pyro and Avalanche are back at large. I'll be in touch."

Fury hung up and Rogue ended the call on her side as well.

* * *

It was of very little surprise to Magneto that when the X-Men found out what had happened, that all eyes turned to him with suspicion.

"Now how can I be at all responsible for Rogue not getting Fury's call earlier? You have not seen fit to make me a member of the X-Men, and therefore I have neither access nor authority to see or change any of the X-Men specific things, like cancelling the redirection on the emergency line. Either one of you was forgetful, or someone didn't want their wedding interrupted."

No one liked the implication that Kitty or Piotr were responsible, especially as neither were there to speak up for themselves. Still, no one could deny the possibility, and since they only had circumstantial evidence against Magneto, the matter was dropped.

Magneto didn't appear to be the slightest bit fazed by anyone's suspicion or hostility. When prodded, he would simply remind everyone that he was there to honour Xavier's memory, which served as a rather nasty rebuke in itself to those who had valued the Professor.


	5. The Elixir of Life

Years since Rogue's power returned: **4**

**Chapter 5: The Elixir of Life**

Gambit's travels often took him to France, so much so that he occasionally considered buying himself a place in Paris, rather than staying in hotels. Each time he considered the idea, he immediately rejected it. The frequency of his visits weren't exactly his idea and he wouldn't want anyone to think he was okay with the situation.

His eyes scanned the shelves of the store and finally landed on a selection of souvenir wine glasses. He picked out two and headed for the counter. Gambit had no idea if Rogue was a wine drinker or not, but he didn't think it really mattered.

A part of him wondered why he had decided to invest himself in her life, and the other part was rolling his eyes at the first part and saying "uh, duh, you're a complete sucker for a damsel in distress." It was true enough, he supposed, and his tendency towards acts of charity was something that had lead to quite a few fights between himself and his father. Too soft-hearted and too much of a romantic, his father insisted.

Whether it was a failing or not, Gambit just couldn't bring himself to turn his back on someone in need. He certainly couldn't turn his back on Rogue, who was practically the modern day version of the fairy tale damsel in distress. She was the princess trapped in the airtight tower, guarded by the fierce dragon that was her mutation. Gambit didn't have it in him to simply walk away, even if he did suspect that Rogue would prefer to be one of those "self-rescuing princess" types.

Buying the wine glasses reminded him, and on his way back to his hotel Gambit picked up a bottle of champagne. He didn't spend long at the hotel room, just long enough to shower and change, and then he departed with the champagne and a small bag in one of the inside pockets of his coat.

His destination wasn't far; the residence on top of a local night club. The bouncers there recognised him on sight, not so much because of how often he came there, but because he'd made an impression when he'd last been there three nights previous, visiting the occupant of the residence; the very woman who owned the club.

"Remy," Candra greeted warmly upon answering the door.

"Bonsior, ma chère," Gambit replied, stepping inside and holding out the brown paper bag in which held the champagne. "I come bearing gifts."

"Hmm," Candra said, accepting the bottle and lifting it out of the bag to inspect the label. "I hope this isn't the only 'gift' you've brought me."

"Never fear," Gambit said after making sure the door was shut behind him. He pulled out the small bag and held it out to her. "Voila."

"Ah!" Candra said, her eyes lighting up at the sight. "Excellent."

She hurriedly put the champagne aside and took the bag eagerly. Her eyes brightened as she inspected the merchandise.

"You never fail me, Remy," she said.

"Only the best for you."

"That's what I pay you for."

"Ah, yes, and speaking of pay," Gambit said, moving in and running his fingers over her bare arm. "What do you say we get the business side done and out of the way, so we can move onto the pleasure?"

Candra smiled wickedly at him. "You just read my mind."

* * *

Gambit looked up from the kitchen bench the next morning to see Candra come through the door wearing nothing but a matching set of underwear and a see-through robe that came down to her backside. He doubted it did much to actually keep her warm, but he did enjoy the view. She smiled when she saw him, and wandered around to slip her arms around his waist as he chopped up the apples for the apple and cinnamon crepes he was preparing for breakfast.

"Morning," she said.

"It's not that early is it?" he asked.

Candra made a noise that was the verbal equivalent of eye-rolling and kissed the back of his neck. Her hands slid over his bare chest. She liked how firm and muscular it was. Gambit continued his cooking in silence, and Candra continued to feel up him until he was ready to start the actual cooking of the crepes. Then she stood back and watched, and admired her handiwork from the night before: vertical lines going down his back where her nails had dug in.

"And where are you off to today?" she asked after a minute or so.

"I have a flight this afternoon," Gambit replied. "So when I'm done here, I'll be packing and checking out."

"New Orleans?"

"New something anyway."

"You should stay awhile longer," she said, but her voice lacked the conviction it usually had when she was insisting on something, much to Gambit's relief.

"You sure you want that? I'd hate for you to get bored with me," Gambit said as he moved the freshly cooked crepe to the plate. "And I know how easily you get bored, ma chère, let's not deny it."

Not to mention it was only a matter of time before he got irritated being around her. If it weren't for the Guild...

* * *

And thus it was that many hours later, Gambit was in a taxi on his way from the airport to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Storm had originally intended on giving him a lift, but there had been a message on his phone when his plane landed saying that an X-Men situation had come up and she wouldn't be able to pick him up after all. He was disappointed, but not really concerned.

Gambit was starting to drift off to sleep when then taxi pulled up outside the gates of the school (he hated jet lag). He roused himself and glanced over at the meter.

"This'll be fine," he said. "I can take it from here."

He paid the driver and got his luggage. As the driver took off, Gambit considered just letting himself in, but decided he couldn't be bothered and rang the intercom instead.

"Well now," came Rogue's sultry voice through the speakers. "Look who the cat dragged in."

"Bonjour Roguey," he said as the gates started to open. "And how have you been?"

"Oh good. Storm said to say that you're in the same room as last time."

"Merci."

He walked through the gates with a laptop bag over his shoulder and a large suitcase dragging behind him. He heard the gates close as he made his way down the driveway and made a mental note to visit Rogue as soon as he dropped his things off. He was tired, but he knew from experience that the worst thing he could do right now was to go to sleep.

Gambit let himself in through the main doors and almost collided with a couple of the students who were running through the foyer at that exact moment. They mumbled apologises, threw him curious looks and ran off again. It took Gambit a minute to remember exactly where it was he had stayed last time, but he did find it and gratefully dumped his bags on the floor and table.

The bed was already made up, and Gambit made use of the ensuite before changing into something he hadn't been travelling in for the last few hours. Once dressed he made his way to Rogue's home. No sooner than he opened the front door than Rogue's face appeared on the screen.

"Hi sugar," she said cheerfully as the door sealed shut behind him. "How was the trip?"

"It was a trip," he replied with a shrug, and he headed over to the coffee station to make himself a cup. "Didn't have to ring the doorbell this time?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, when I started doing security here, we put an alarm on the door so that I'd always know when someone came in," Rogue said.

"Smart."

"We thought so."

He put the kettle on and yawned as he leaned against the bench.

"Tired?" Rogue asked.

"Jet lag," Gambit replied with a dismissing wave of his hand. "Oh damn..."

"What?"

"I just remembered, I left your present back in my room... Blah, I'll get it to you later."

Rogue giggled. "You sure you don't just want to go to bed?"

"I'd love to go to bed," Gambit replied. "But I need to wait until a more appropriate hour. Going to sleep right now will just make things worse."

"Fair enough."

She chewed her bottom lip, wondering what to say. As soon as Gambit had walked through the gates she had gone into what she decided to call "fangirl mode" and started freaking out, changing clothes, checking her appearance and brushing her hair. Then she realised what she was doing and got disgusted with herself for getting all worked up about her crush coming to visit. She hadn't quite calmed down by the time Gambit walked through her front door, and she was sure her heart skipped a beat when she laid her eyes on him, but as long as she could stop herself from gazing at him adoringly like she wanted, she was certain she could avoid having him find out about her infatuation.

"You were in France, right?" she asked. "Hooked up with your lady friend again?"

"Oui and oui," Gambit replied with a smile to Rogue for her always asking about his love life. "It was only a short trip, but very...fulfilling."

Rogue giggled.

"So, Stormy's on some X-Men thing, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rogue said and her expression turned grim. "This one is not going to be pleasant. A mutant manifested powers during school today, and blew up the classroom, killing everyone in it except himself."

Gambit gave a low whistle.

"The kid's in custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. now but yeah... Twenty-nine students and a teacher died because of a mutant-related accident," Rogue said shaking her head. "It's under wraps for now, but they won't be able to keep it that way for very long, and when it does... Storm's doing what she can to mitigate the damage but thirty people died. That's not something you can just ignore, even if it was an accident. Not that I'm suggesting we should."

"Got that right," Gambit said, turning back to the counter at the sound of the kettle whistling.

"I think what bugs me the most is that I can already see people repeating some of the things that Senator Kelly said a few years ago," Rogue went on. "You know about seeing mutants as weapons in school and stuff like that. I mean, none of us know we're mutants until we manifest, and we have no idea how we'll manifest or what our powers are. We all want a way to avoid this from ever happening again, but how do you do that?"

Gambit shrugged. "I'm sure that genocide'll be on the list, and probably a bunch of other nasty things too."

"Thank you for your words of encouragement."

"Just stating facts, chère. People suck," he said as he stirred his freshly made coffee. "If there's a way to make a bad situation worse, they'll find it. Good luck to Stormy, being on the front lines. She's going to need it."

"We all will."

Gambit held the mug up to his nose and breathed in deeply before sitting down at the lounge. He took a tentative sip of the hot drink.

"Ah," he sighed with satisfaction. "This is the stuff."

Rogue smiled and Gambit leaned back in the lounge.

"So, how college?" he asked.

As Rogue chatted, Gambit looked her over. It had been a few years since he'd last seen her, and he'd actually forgotten that her body was just as attractive as her voice. She had the exact kind of curvaceous figure he found sexy, and he liked the way she looked at him with those soulful, sparkling green eyes of hers. It was tempting to act on his attraction. Sure, Rogue had told him she wasn't interested in dating, but he was reasonably confident he could change her mind or otherwise get her to make an exception for him... But then what? When he was done with the novelty of having an untouchable girlfriend, then what? No, he couldn't do that to her. She had enough problems without him adding to them by using her and playing with her heart.

Despite the coffee and his efforts to do otherwise, Gambit did drift off to sleep later in the conversation. Rogue put her hazmat suit on, and came out to make him more comfortable on the lounge with a pillow and blanket.

* * *

"Have a nice nap?" Storm asked Gambit when he joined her in the dining hall later that evening.

"I was sleeping on a lounge, so no, not really," he replied, rubbing his neck with one hand as he sat down at the table with his plate of food in the other. "Actually, I'm a little annoyed with Rogue for not waking me. She knew I didn't want to go to sleep yet."

"Maybe she tried and could not rouse you."

"Nope, she said I looked too cute," Gambit replied, giving Storm a wink.

Storm gave a weak smile and sipped at her drink. He studied her for a moment.

"Rogue tells me there was an incident today involving some kid blowing up his class," he said finally.

Storm closed her eyes for a moment.

"Yes, I have been in discussions with Nick Fury and the President for hours. The incident has been broadcasted. It is only a matter of time before we start feeling the repercussions, and I fear what they will be."

"How do you think it will go?"

"I do not know, yet. The President is...sympathetic towards mutants, but this is something that needs a response—I do agree with that—and I am low on viable options to suggest, and we are far too close to the next presidential election for my liking. Unfortunately, there is not a test out that that can identify what kind of powers come with a specific X-factor, and that is the exact kind of information we require if we are to adequately protect mutants and those around them when their powers manifest."

"Well, you know what they say, chère," Gambit replied. "Necessity is the mother of invention."

"What worries me is that if the general public is not satisfied quickly, then Graydon Creed will be voted in," Storm said gravely. "And though he may not have come out and said it in so many words, the man clearly hates mutants."

"Sensing impending doom, eh, Stormy?" Gambit asked.

Storm didn't reply.

"Want me to see if I can get anything dirty on Creed?" Gambit inquired helpfully, then added with a grin: "What am I saying? He's a politician! Of course there's something dirty on him."

Gambit knew he should probably take the whole thing more seriously than he was, but it was hard to work up the energy to do so. First and foremost he was a thief, and there would always be a place in the world for thieves. He never let a little thing like laws get in the way of his life; comply when it suited him, and break them when it didn't. He honestly couldn't see himself being adversely affected by anything they could come up with in the long term. For Storm and Rogue's sake he did his best to summon up some interest in the subject.

"What I want," Storm said, "is for this tragedy to not be followed up with more tragedies in a knee-jerk reaction from a world that hates and fears us."

* * *

The following day Gambit headed over to Rogue's home with her present in hand. He gave Rogue a wave as he entered and then headed straight into the storeroom where he changed into one of the hazmat suits. While he changed, Rogue quickly did a tidy up and then took a few minutes to tell herself not to get all fangirly in front of him.

Her little talk to herself didn't do a whole lot to prevent her from hugging Gambit the moment he walked through the door, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, Gambit was sure to keep one hand on her while he handed over the gift with the other.

"Thank you," Rogue said, a little shyly as she accepted it.

She pulled away the wrapping paper, then opened the box, and smiled as she pulled out one of the two wine glasses inside.

"Nice," she said.

"I'm glad you like 'em," Gambit replied.

"I do, thanks."

"And I see the cushion I gave you is on the lounge."

"Yup. And the figurines from Spain are on that shelf over there," Rogue said, pointing, and then proceeded to give Gambit a tour of her home, showing him where all the gifts he sent her were. She was thrilled, mostly because he spent the whole tour with one hand on her back.

Gambit loved the happy expression Rogue wore on her face the whole time. Even better, he liked that he was the one who was putting it there.

"So, do you have any short movies?" Gambit asked once the little tour was over.

"Probably, why?"

"Well, I figured since I went to all the trouble of putting this suit on, I should make the most of it," he said.

"You want to watch a movie with me in here?" Rogue asked, blinking at him. "Seriously?"

"Oui."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Really sure?"

Gambit chuckled. "Go pick out a movie."

"Okay then."

While Rogue turned to her movie collection to pick out something of a suitably short length, Gambit sat down on the lounge. Immediately upon sitting he realised the position would be intolerable on account of the size and positioning of the air cylinder. After selecting and setting up the movie, Rogue turned to find that Gambit had opted to lie down on the lounge, with the air cylinder lying in the corner between the back and the cushions. There were only a few inches between Gambit and the end of the lounge.

"Comfy?" she asked, wondering where she was going to sit.

"Is that a trick question?" Gambit asked.

Rogue giggled and Gambit patted the space in front of him as an invitation for her to join him. Rogue was both dubious about being able to lie there without falling off, and a little excited about getting so close to Gambit. She got on the lounge and it turned out that there was just enough space for her to lie down beside him. As soon as she was settled, Gambit wrapped his arm around her waist, and she pressed play on the TV remote she had with her.

Gambit found that he spent more time stewing over his current discomfort than on the movie. The hazmat suit wasn't comfortable at all, and the layers made it so thick that he couldn't even properly enjoy being curled up on the lounge with a beautiful woman. It was little wonder to him that Rogue hated wearing the thing: it was like wearing a prison.

When the movie concluded, Gambit lifted his arm to check the air gauge and Rogue got up off the lounge.

"I guess you'll have to go," she said, holding out an arm to help him up off the lounge.

"Actually I've still got a reasonable amount of air left," Gambit replied, accepting the offer of her arm. "I guess just lying on the couch, not talking, and watching TV doesn't use up much air, relatively speaking."

"Guess not," Rogue said as Gambit finally, if awkwardly, got off the lounge.

"I don't know how you move in these things," he said, then cocked an eyebrow at Rogue as he slid his arm around her waist once more. "You ever think about getting a custom suit made?"

"I do have custom suits," Rogue said, and pointed to the speakers and microphones on the helmet of the suit. "Communications."

"That's not what I meant. These suits are intended for working with chemicals and crap like that," Gambit said. "You only need something to be airtight."

"True. I guess it's not really something I'm all that worried about right now. It's very rare that I wear it for very long; mostly just to and from the Danger Room. It does the job."

Gambit grunted and Rogue smiled.

"Thanks for your concern, sugar," she said. "But so far you're the only one crazy enough to willingly hang around in one of these things just to socialise with me. Most people just wait until one of my trips to the Danger Room and give me a hug then."

"Well, I have a lot of hugs to make up for," he replied loftily.

Rogue giggled. "Remy, you're nuts. And I'm not complaining in the slightest."

Gambit grinned at her.

"Nice to know," he said, then gestured to a plant in the corner, one of five he'd spotted during the tour. "Back to experimenting again?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah," Rogue said, looking at the plant irritably. "Just got a few more control tests to do and then we should finally be able to move onto actually trying to get my powers under control."

"Have any idea on how you're going to do that?"

She sighed and looked so crestfallen, Gambit actually regretted asking the question.

"I'm going to be going back to absorbing plants by touch," she said. "I'll have a bunch of plants in here, and some will be for proximity practice—trying to make them live as long as possible—and some will be for touch."

"Trying to touch them without absorbing them, huh?" Gambit asked.

"Yeah," Rogue said, looking so uncomfortable that Gambit wrapped his other arm around her as well and pulled her close. "The few times I've done it they've gone black almost instantly. It's very unsettling."

"Well, you have my number," he said firmly. "And I want you to call me if it starts getting to you."

Rogue smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks," she said. "I really appreciate everything you've done for me, Remy. If there's ever anything I can do for you in return, just ask."

"Heh, as it happens you're already doing it," Gambit replied. "I don't have too many female friends. Plenty of lovers..."

Rogue giggled although inwardly she felt just a little bit crushed. She mentally told herself she was being stupid; she wasn't interested in dating anyway, so what did it matter if Gambit saw her as a friend? On the other hand, by his own admission she was more likely to have a closer relationship with him as friends than they ever would be as lovers, even if she could touch. The thought cheered her up a little.

"...but not a lot of friends," he said, grinning at her despite the fact that her head was still nestled on his shoulder and she couldn't see it. "Besides, you've made travelling interesting for me again. I've been around the world more times than I can count. It's kind of nice to be able to go some place and think 'Rogue would love this'. You know, chère, one of these days you'll get control, or we'll figure out a way for you to get out of this place for longer than a couple of hours, and I'm going to take you on a world tour."

Rogue lifted her head and smiled up at him.

"I'd like that," she said. "I'd like that very much."

* * *

The following day, Gambit joined Magneto in the viewing room during Rogue's Danger Room session. It was his first time anywhere near the Danger Room, and the first time he had a chance to talk to Magneto, as the other man generally eschewed social situations. The two men took a few long moments to assess each other, then turned their attention to Rogue, completely unimpressed with what they saw in the other man.

The program running was a battle simulation set on the streets of New York. It was the first time Gambit had seen Rogue in action, and there was something very beautiful about the way she fought off multiple opponents by herself.

"And all this is a hologram?" Gambit inquired.

"Yes," Magneto replied shortly.

There was a long silence before Gambit asked another question: "Does she only do solo sessions?"

"Usually. She has done very rare group sessions."

"Hazmat suit?"

"That should go without saying," Magneto said in a tone of voice that implied that Gambit was an idiot for even voicing the question.

"Huh," was Gambit's only reply, and after watching Rogue in silence a few minutes longer, asked: "No one's bothered to make a fake hazmat suit using the holograms?"

"What use could there possibly be in that?" Magneto asked, his eyes firmly trained on Rogue and his voice full of contempt. "The point of the exercise is to prepare for real life battles."

"That don't look much like a real life battle going on down there, mon ami," Gambit replied coolly. "That looks like Rogue keeping in shape. If it were real life, all them folks would be in comas already. Was thinking, in a holographic hazmat suit, Rogue might be able to mingle properly with her friends without overheating or risking running out of air. Well, assuming that the hazmat suit was tied to a proper air supply, but that could be anywhere, not necessarily on her person."

Magneto didn't reply straight away, but this time it was a thoughtful silence.

"It would be easy enough to test," he said finally, and went about writing a new program. It was a simple one, and he was done about the same time Rogue finished with her session. "Stay a moment if you please. I have something I'd like to test. You should put on your hazmat suit, including your helmet, and take your helmet off when I say."

"Oookay," Rogue replied.

When she was ready, she put her hazmat suit on like she always did and Gambit made his way down to the Danger Room. Sure, he could have just located a plant to do the test with, as Magneto had suggested, but Gambit wasn't bothered going all the way to the greenhouse to swipe one. Besides, he was curious.

Magneto brought up his new program; it was very simple, just a force field of the same variety they used to make the holograms solid. It was see-through, which was necessary for what had been proposed, and sealed on all sides like a bubble around her. Gambit entered the Danger Room and Rogue glanced over at him.

"What's the big experiment?" she asked.

"With your permission, ma chère," Gambit said. "Erik has put a holographic bubble around you, and we are hoping that it will serve as a good enough hazmat suit that you could use that instead of a real one to interact with your friends in here."

Rogue raised her eyebrows. It was certainly an interesting idea.

"That might actually work," she said thoughtfully. "But the hologram would have to be totally airtight, and I have no idea if they are."

"Guess we'll find out."

Rogue blinked. "What now?" she asked. "Where's the plant?"

Gambit waved at her.

"You're not serious," Rogue said. "I could—"

"Put me into a coma? So?" Gambit asked. "I'm feeling lucky. Let's go for it."

Rogue chewed her lip, but she couldn't help smiling. She supposed it was safe enough; she would know straight away if it didn't work, and all she would have to do is put her helmet back on.

"Okay," she said.

She took a deep breath and unsealed her helmet. She lifted it and for a brief moment she thought it had worked, but then she felt the rush of life flow into her, faster than it did with the plants but with a slight drag. Gambit's memories, thoughts, and feelings entered her mind, and she could feel the buzz of his kinetic powers on her fingertips and taste it under her tongue. Quickly she put the helmet back on, dulling the flow, and sealed it, shutting the flow off completely. She attempted to rush over to Gambit, who had collapsed on the floor, but the force field prevented her.

"Remy!"

The force field dissolved as Magneto ended the simulation and she ran over to his side. It had been so long since she last absorbed a person, she didn't know if she needed to be worried or not. Soon, the doors opened and Magneto stepped inside.

"I will take care of him," he told her. "You return home. I will fill you in as soon as I know anything."

Rogue nodded and reluctantly stood. "Thanks, Erik."

* * *

Gambit's coma lasted three hours, which—out of the eighty-nine comas she had put people in since her powers had returned—was her shortest one yet. Despite being reassured that he was okay, even after he had come out of the coma, Rogue was having sincere doubts about experimenting on people again. Only a few seconds of time had been enough to put her friend into a coma for three hours. Mere _seconds_. Rogue remembered a time when a few seconds of contact would only give her victim a dizzy spell.

"Remy!" she exclaimed when he came to visit her about twenty minutes after he woke. "They told me you woke up. I'm so glad you're okay. You are okay, right?"

"I'm fine, chère," Gambit replied languidly, stretching out on the lounge in front of the screen. "I'm sorry it didn't work though. I guess those things aren't airtight. Pity."

"It might have worked, it was worth a try, just... Next time we'll use a plant, okay?" Rogue said. "I hate absorbing them, but I hate the idea of hurting you more."

She couldn't believe she had been so stupid not to insist on a plant, but Gambit had seemed so sure, and the idea sounded like it should have worked without a fuss.

"Alright," Gambit said agreeably.

There was a drawn out silence.

"You know, for someone who thinks of himself as the world's greatest thief," Rogue said, and Gambit stiffened, knowing quite well that he hadn't told her the truth about his career, "putting yourself in a position where I might have—and did—absorb you was a pretty stupid idea. Or did you forget that I absorb minds?"

Gambit stared at her with horror written all over his face. If she knew that, what else did she...?

"I mean, I could give you the benefit of the doubt and assume this just means you trust me with the information, which I appreciate," Rogue went on nervously. "But I'm pretty sure Jean-Luc will be pissed that I not only found out about the Thieves Guild, but also about the Elixir of Life."

The colour drained from Gambit's face and his mouth went dry.

"I promise I won't tell anyone," Rogue said quietly. "That just ain't my style. But I thought you should know that I know."

"Mon dieu," Gambit said under his breath. "I did forget."

Rogue stayed silent, deciding it was better if Gambit had a chance to think. After he spent a few minutes frowning at the floor with his elbows resting on his knees, she did not expect him to start chuckling.

"Well," he said. "I did say I was feeling lucky."

"Murphey's Law?" Rogue asked, wondering if that was what he was getting at.

"Huh? Oh, no. No, I was just thinking it might be nice to have a friend outside the Guild who knows," Gambit said with a shrug. "I'm one of the younger ones, and I'm just starting to understand why some of the older guys in the Guild don't bother with long associations with folks outside the Guild any more. Logan's never bothered to question why I'm still as young as ever, but he lost his memory and doesn't know when we first met. Stormy, on the other hand, she was twelve when we met, and she's definitely noticed I still look the same age."

Rogue hesitated, and then said: "How old are you? May I ask?"

"You mean you don't know?" Gambit inquired, cocking his head to the side in amusement.

"I never pick up everything. Mostly I pick up major stuff and emotional stuff, and things that recently happened," Rogue said. "Like I know you get the Elixir through Candra, and I know you despise her and you only do jobs and sleep with her to keep on her good side, but I have no idea what the arrangement for the Elixir is."

"Hmm, well, we'd better keep it that way. And mon père, and anyone else in the Guild, must never know that you even know the Elixir exists, or they will not hesitate to kill you. As thieves we prefer things not to come to any kind of violence, but we will to protect our secrets. Especially that secret," Gambit said seriously, then went on in a lighter tone: "And I'm 54 or thereabouts. I was adopted off the streets, so no one knows my exact birthday."

"Wow," Rogue replied and Gambit grinned at her surprise. "You look mid-twenties."

"I know. I was about twenty-five-ish when I started taking it," he said. "I'm a bit of an exception. Myself and my sister-in-law are the only ones who didn't continue aging for awhile after we started taking it. She still looks in her twenties, and her husband—mon frère—looks forty. Mon père looks forty too. Heh, Henri—mon frère—even had time to go bald before he stopped aging."

Rogue giggled and Gambit grinned at her.

"Mon père still has a full head of hair, though, figure that one out," Gambit went on cheerfully.

"Heh, I like it," she said and Gambit felt like he had some weight lifted off his shoulders.

"I should go," he said, standing up, "but pick out another short movie for tomorrow okay?"

Rogue grinned at him. "Will do."

Gambit gave her a wave and departed. Rogue watched him leave with a silly smile on her face. As his thoughts had been on her when she absorbed him, she'd also picked up how much he cared for her. It wasn't in a romantic way like she would have liked, but it still gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling. For some reason she couldn't figure out though, these thoughts and feelings about her brought to his mind someone he despised and was attracted to at the same time: Candra, benefactress of the Thief and Assassin Guilds. From there she found out about the Elixir of Life, which she was having difficulty believing in, even if Gambit fully believed.

She also discovered that when he was younger he had problems with his powers too, and since that was before mutants had gone "mainstream" his choices were limited. He went to a sinister man named Dr Nathaniel Essex—the name had been engraved on Gambit's mind—who had operated on him in exchange for his services as a thief. Years later (by Rogue's reckoning), Gambit had ended up subject to mutant experimentation, and another name was engraved on his mind: William Stryker. The gruesome and traumatic natures of these memories made Rogue shudder and push them away. Still, it did explain why someone who had been a perfect stranger could so quickly become invested in her welfare.


	6. Stark Industries

Years since Rogue's powers returned: **4/5**

**Chapter 6: Stark Industries**

"The Mutant Registration Act has been revived," Hank informed the X-Men grimly via conference call from Washington DC. "And they also want to introduce mandatory x-factor testing at birth."

"Is that necessarily a bad thing?" Sam asked cautiously. "I mean, yes, I realise that this kind of information could be dangerous in the wrong hands, but if we know who mutants are before they manifest we'd all be able to prepare better."

"That is my thought too," Hank said. "If nothing else, there are some basic power control techniques that anyone can learn prior to the manifestation of powers. There are benefits to the mandatory testing. However, there is also a long list of dangers too, not the least of which is the information falling into the wrong hands and someone using it to go on a killing spree. Additionally, the Mutant Registration Act itself will reveal Xavier's as a mutant school. Again, not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but it will make us a target. There is also the possibility of parents reacting badly to the news that their newborn baby is a mutant; sadly unconditional love for a baby is not always a given. In such cases the best we can hope for is that the child will be put up for adoption, else we're looking at anything from abuse to post-term abortion."

"Infantcide," Kitty said disgustedly.

"I am doing what I can on my end," Hank went on. "The Mutant Registration Act is a huge breech of privacy, and I hope it doesn't pass. I'm suggesting compulsory basic power control classes as an alternative to mandatory testing. It won't hurt baseline humans to learn such techniques; might even promote a little understanding. There's also the added benefit of being less expensive; yes, we will need to train teachers, but we only need to target young children, and one class a week should be sufficient. This is as opposed to the massive amount of hardware and manpower it would take to enforce not only mandatory testing at birth, but also maintaining the register. In any case, we have no way to predict what powers a mutant may develop, if any, and the segregation that will likely occur from this won't prevent people getting hurt when powers manifest."

"Right," Storm agreed, then turned to the others in the war room. "Kitty, you are our campaign manager. I want you to work with Hank, and with the Mutant Lobby. Make sure anything the Lobby plans is going to be peaceful. We are all going to have to keep an eye out for the Brotherhood too; it is best to assume that anything they do will hinder rather than help us."

There were murmurs of agreement.

"Jubilee, Sam," Storm went on, addressing the pair. "In preparation for the worst, I want you two to investigate expanding the school right down to newborns. It is going to be a big undertaking, I know, but I am certain we would all like to avoid infantcide if we can, and those unwanted babies are going to need a home."

"We may have to expand the school if we're going to do that," Bobby said with a frown. "I doubt we'll have enough room."

"Not in the long-term, no," Storm said. "If you would kindly assist in investigating the financial side."

"Will do."

"Angelica, Piotr," Storm went on. "I would like you two to put together a program incorporating the basic techniques we'd like to see taught in schools. Please prepare something we can use as a demonstration as well, in case Hank requires something to make a point."

"An excellent thought, Ororo," Hank said approving.

"Logan, Rogue," Storm went on after a brief nod towards Hank. "I need you to go over our security with a view to upgrade it in case of attack. If the Mutant Registration Act goes through, as Hank pointed out, there will be no way for us to avoid them finding out about a nice big concentration of mutants here, especially since S.H.I.E.L.D. knows exactly where we are, and will enforce our registration if they have to."

"Consider it done," said Logan.

* * *

"But all of this," Logan said irritably whilst sitting in Rogue's visitor's lounge some weeks later, "means nothing if they just decide to drop a bomb on the place."

Rogue looked sceptical.

"Do you really think they'd drop a bomb on a school?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do. They just wouldn't admit it was a school publicly," Logan said. "It would be some kind of mutant training camp or something."

"Well, we already have radar installed, although I'll concede that won't do much good if they have stealth bombers," Rogue said thoughtfully, tapping her teeth with the end of her pencil while she looked at her notes.

"You're the engineer."

"And yet zero experience in dealing with military tech," Rogue replied evenly. "The person we should be speaking to about this is Erik."

Logan growled. "I don't want to—"

"Hey, it's his head too," Rogue pointed out. "And even if he did go back to the Brotherhood, the Brotherhood has nothing to gain by bombing us."

"That we know of."

"Their grudge is against humans."

"They probably see us as sympathisers."

"Maybe they do, but they'd still have to get the information out of Erik—"

"He doesn't have to volunteer it," Logan said grimly. "Past experience, remember?"

Rogue pressed her lips together and looked at Logan irritably.

"Well," she said, "exccuuuuse me for pointing out that I'm under qualified for this and recommending someone with way more experience."

"Rogue—" Logan began.

Rogue crossed her arms and glared at him. Logan grunted.

"Fine," he said. "I'm going to have my hands full implementing all the other upgrades we came up with anyway, and it's not like you're going to be able to help much with that. Besides, Magneto's not going to know the details of those."

"Thank you, Logan."

* * *

The meeting was unusual, not because Gambit's ridiculously wealthy client had opted to meet in a cheap establishment he only thought he knew how to dress for, but because he had brought his daughter along. In Gambit's experience, clients only had their children attend meetings with him because they either wanted to teach them the family business, or because they had some sort of ulterior motive. Given that Sasha Hammer was only just legal, Gambit assumed both were a possibility. To be on the safe side, Gambit made sure his jamming devices were working.

"I asked for the best," said Justin Hammer, looking at Gambit dubiously. "You look a little young to be 'the best'."

"Why, thank you," Gambit replied evenly. "But in my line of work, the best always start young, and you can't get any better than moi."

"That had better be true," Justin said and slid a folder over to him. "Because it will take nothing but the best to get what I'm after."

Gambit opened his folder and raised his eyebrows.

"Consider it done," he said as he glanced at the papers therein.

"Just like that?" Justin asked. "No objections? No insistence that it can't be done?"

"I wouldn't be the best if I actually believed that," Gambit replied mildly. "Now, there's only the matter of my fee..."

* * *

Tony Stark had his legs up on the desk and was busy perusing his notes on one of his projects when his secretary and girlfriend, Pepper Potts, buzzed him.

"Remy LeBeau is here," she informed him.

"Ah, good," Tony replied, switching the display on his handheld screen to bring up the file of one of his more mysterious stockholders. "Send him in."

The door opened and Gambit, professionally dressed, walked on in. He looked around the office with interest as he walked over to the desk. Tony stood and held out his hand, somewhat surprised at the sight of the younger man. The Remy LeBeau who held shares in his company bought them over forty years ago, and this Remy looked perhaps half that. He supposed that some people always looked older or younger than they really were, but this seemed to be pushing it.

"Mr Stark," Gambit said, shaking his hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

"And a pleasure to finally meet you," Tony replied, and he gestured to a nearby chair as they let go of hands. "You've been invested in this company since my father's days, and yet we've only really interacted with you through your representative."

"Well, to be frank, you haven't interacted with me at all," Gambit said as he sat down. "I'm Remy LeBeau _junior_. I'm afraid that my father, Remy LeBeau senior, isn't exactly doing very well at the moment, and I've had to take on managing his affairs. I do have the appropriate paperwork with me if you need to verify my story."

The only truthful part of the whole story was that Jean-Luc had bought the shares for him, at his request. It amused Gambit, just a little, that as a twelve year old he thought that investing in a weapons developer would impress a certain girl assassin and her family. It turned out to be a pretty sound investment, but not quite for the reasons Gambit had originally intended. The really impressive part was that Gambit even had that much money as a child.

"Please," Tony said, and Gambit handed over the paperwork.

Tony looked it over and then called in Pepper to take care of it. For once Gambit was a little nervous about this part. Most people he could show forged documents to would be convinced. The Thieves Guild had been doing this kind of thing for years; no one was better than them at forging things and getting around security measures, even state of the art developments. However, Tony Stark was one of the guys _making_ the state of the art developments.

"Alright, and while Pepper's looking after that," Tony went on, "what can I do for you?"

"As I said, I've taken on managing my father's affairs," Gambit said. "I'm still in the process of finding everything—he's got investments all over the place. Some of the investments I've found so far are... Well, if mon père was still in his right mind, I'm sure he would have pulled out of them long ago. Obviously that doesn't apply to you—Stark Industries is stronger than ever—but I was hoping you might indulge me with a tour of your R&D department. Lydia has attempted to get me up to date, of course, but I have to admit I'm interested in learning more about what you're working on here."

Tony glanced at the file he had on him, and noted the amount of shares that Gambit held in the company. He hesitated and then shrugged. Gambit wasn't one of the biggest stockholders by any means, but he still held a substantial interest.

"Sure, why not?" Tony said. "Just as soon as the paperwork checks out."

"Of course," Gambit said, standing up and fishing a card out of his pocket. "If you wouldn't mind giving me a call when you're ready to schedule the tour. I realise you're a busy man."

Tony stood as well, and was about to reply when Pepper reappeared in the office. She gave him a thumbs up and disappeared again.

"Not necessary," Tony said, "we can go right now."

"Already?" Gambit asked, glancing towards the door as Tony joined him at his side.

"We operate fast around here," Tony replied. "Come, this way."

Gambit followed Tony out the door and towards the elevator feeling relieved and only a little bit nervous. Faster wasn't always better. Still the matter of the paperwork aside, Gambit now had a robbery to prepare for. To anyone watching, he appeared to be a curious, interested guest, fascinated by the state of the art technology in every part of the Stark Tower. In reality, Gambit was memorising every nook and cranny, taking in all the security requirements, noting locations of cameras and where he would put a camera when he couldn't see one immediately in a particular area.

There were four R&D levels, and Gambit was certain to ask questions about each project, partly out of genuine interest, and partly because he didn't want to seem too interested in the prototype he planned on stealing for Justin Hammer. The commission put Gambit in an interesting position; on the one hand stealing the prototype would work out well for him in the short term, but in the long term, selling technology to a rival company wasn't in his interest. Still, there was nothing in the contract that said it had to be a _working_ prototype.

The prize in question was kept on the third floor. It was so small he was almost tempted to just slip it into his pocket, but he restrained himself; he still hadn't taken in all the security, and he didn't want his visit to be associated with the theft.

"Fascinating," Gambit said when Tony was done giving a basic explanation. "It's amazing at how often the smallest of things can hold so much power. Is it as delicate as it looks?"

"Even more, unfortunately," Tony replied. "That's something we're working on. Until it learns to deal with stress..."

"Ah, yes," Gambit said nodding sagely. "A glass of red wine or a shot of whiskey, and a good woman usually works for me."

Tony chuckled and clapped Gambit on the shoulder. "A man after my own heart."

By the time they got to the fourth floor, Gambit was getting a little weary of the tour. It wasn't that he had stopped finding everything they were working on fascinating, it was more that he'd just gone through three floors of 'fascinating' already.

"Now this is going to revolutionise the clothing industry," Tony said as he drew Gambit over to one of the last projects. "Thermoregulating fabric. It'll keep you cool in the heat, warm in the cold. You can wear this stuff in the frozen wastes of Antarctica and never freeze. You wear it in the midday sun of a Fijian summer and never overheat. Perfect for trekking through the desert; cool during the day, warm during the night, and you won't even have to change."

Gambit stared at the sample fabric, a quarter of an inch thick. It looked like an ordinary piece of material to his eyes.

"On the more frivolous and long term scale, we're seeing this work its way into the fashion industry," Tony continued. "Particularly women's fashions; when it's ready I'm thinking of having an evening gown made for Pepper. She'll be able to look like her usual stunning self without freezing and making me feel like I have to give her my coat or something. But in the shorter term and on the more practical side this is going to make a huge difference to a lot of people, whether it's tourists or military travelling to a different climate to what they're used to, or just people who work in extreme environments, like Antarctica, as I said before."

"Right," Gambit said slowly, his eyes not moving from the fabric. "You could use it as a replacement for the under layers of a hazmat suit. Just not having to wear a cooling vest alone would make a huge difference to the thickness of the suit. A thinner suit would improve movement, tactical sensation, and if it really does keep you the same temperature you wouldn't have to suffer from the smell of your own sweat."

"Exactly," Tony said enthusiastically. "Better still, we're going to try and see if we can reduce hazmat suits to just one layer. This."

"Even suits that have to be airtight?"

"Even those. Especially those," Tony said. "You use 'em?"

Gambit was silent for a moment before he replied: "I have a friend who... She's a mutant with a high level ability she can't control. The only way she can have physical contact with people is through a hazmat suit."

"Ah."

"Actually, you're an Avenger, right? You may have heard of her; she's one of the X-Men, Rogue," Gambit said, finally looking back up at Tony and meeting his eyes. "S.H.I.E.L.D. built her airtight home for her."

"Well I am familiar with the X-Men and with S.H.I.E.L.D. but I can't say I recall Rogue," Tony said, heading over to a nearby computer console to look up her file.

"She doesn't go out on missions," Gambit said. "She's limited by the air in her suit."

"Of course, that makes sense... ah ha," Tony said, locating her file. "Life force absorption, hmm? Fascinating."

"Is it possible to get her on the top of your waiting list for hazmat suits?" Gambit asked.

"Just graduated with a Masters in aerospace engineering," Tony muttered under his breath, then said louder. "Since we don't actually have a waiting list at this time, I don't see how that will be a problem. But you should be aware that this project is months, if not years away from completion. And even then it's not going to hit the market straight away because we need to be able to manufacture it affordably."

"Of course, I completely understand," Gambit replied. "And rest assured I'm not going to be one of those annoying people forever ringing up and saying 'is it done yet', but if you could keep Lydia advised of its progress, I'd appreciate it."

"Certainly."

* * *

**Six weeks later:**

Gambit slid the small container, no larger than a jewellery box, across the table to Justin.

"Be very careful," he advised him. "It is extremely delicate; that's one of the problems Stark has been having with this line of research. I take no responsibility for any mishandling from this point onwards."

"Do I look like a child to you?" Justin demanded as he checked the case.

"I just wouldn't want you to try and get out of paying me the rest of my fee," Gambit replied coolly, "because you—or someone in your charge—dropped it, and it stopped working."

Breaking into the Stark Tower had not been easy, not at all, and he hadn't expected it to be. The fact that Gambit was a stockholder had been his only leverage; he had been able to acquire one of Stark Industries small and lightweight portable computers. How they managed to compact a whole computer into something that was no bigger than the transparent touch screen, Gambit had no idea. He primarily used his for his legitimate work as Remy LeBeau. He preferred not to use it for his illegal activities, as he figured in the worst case scenario, the Stark computer would be a lot easier to trace than a mainstream one, and a lot harder to replace.

Nonetheless, his possession of that technology, and the chance to become familiar with it, had been the very key to being able to manipulate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems. It was also the key to breaking into the Stark Tower successfully.

Once he'd gotten into the security system, he'd been able to plan his entrance, route, and exit. It required very specific timing, and he practiced until he had it down. On the night of the break-in—deliberately timed for the day a tour group had been through the building—Gambit went through the motions, keeping a sharp eye on the time. It was tough and tight, and if that didn't make it difficult enough, he got a surprise visit from Tony's AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. Gambit was not familiar with AI programs at all, and certainly had no idea how to best react to his inquiry. He decided it was best to stay quiet and go about his business, and hope that J.A.R.V.I.S. wasn't programmed to set off an alarm if it didn't get a verbal response.

Still, the moment Gambit walked out the door with the prize in his hand, clear and free, it took all of his effort to stop grinning and maintain a normal expression as he headed back to his hotel. He, Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, Prince of Thieves, had just successfully robbed Tony "Iron Man" Stark. When he did get back to his room, he did a happy dance and whooped with excitement. Oh yes, he was definitely the best.

"You'll get your money," Justin replied, pulling out a handheld computer.

He pressed a few buttons and then slid the case into his briefcase.

"You'll have it tonight, in fact," he said.

"Excellent. Pleasure doing business with you."

* * *

Rogue sighed, put her pen down and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her other hand.

"I don't know," she said, looking at Magneto through the screen. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Maybe instead of trying to design a system that can detect aircraft which are deliberately designed so they can't be tracked on radar, we should focus on building something that can stop them when they get here."

Magneto leaned back in the lounge. "And what would you suggest?"

"I dunno. Giant forcefield that covers the entire school campus?" Rogue said.

"Appealing, but impractical," Magneto replied. "Those forcefields require a lot of power to maintain. A lot of power."

"The Danger Room doesn't suck up that much power, does it?" Rogue asked.

"It actually uses up a very high amount of power, but it also has good power management which wouldn't work in what you're proposing," Magneto said.

"How so?"

"For one thing, it absorbs energy while being used," Magneto said. "Every time you punch, kick, or otherwise hit one of the forcefields whether by physical contact or by power use, it absorbs the energy generated from the impact, and uses that to supplement the power required to operate. Because it is constantly being impacted, whether light or hard, the drain on the power isn't crippling. Were we to use those forcefields to shield the school, however, because it wouldn't be under constant attack, it would have no way to supplement its power requirements and subsequently it would either drive up the school's electricity bill to obscene proportions, or it would just short out the power completely the moment you turned it on."

"Lovely," Rogue replied. "Ah well, there goes that plan. Pity; since we knew the force fields aren't airtight, we wouldn't have had to make an air recycling system, and it would have let sunlight in just fine. Probably not rain though. Storm would have to... Say..."

"I believe what you're thinking would require a lot more lightning bolts than is feasible," Magneto said. "The Xavier Estate is not small, and for the forcefield to be effective, it would have to be on all the time."

"Oh well. We'll think of something."

* * *

A few days later, Rogue was on the lounge monitoring another X-Men mission. What was supposed to have been a peaceful demonstration had gone horribly wrong when the Brotherhood showed up. The Brotherhood numbers had been steadily on the rise ever since "Nitro" (as named by the media, who couldn't reveal the minor's real name) had blown up his class. As Rogue listened, she realised that the X-Men were quickly being overwhelmed. She sent in the backup team to assist them, but was soon getting instructions from Storm to call in the Avengers.

"Already on their way," said the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent when Rogue called. "We noticed things were getting out of hand."

"Appreciated, sugar," Rogue replied, choosing to ignore the condescending tone, and opting to remember it next time they called her for help.

It was quite a task, monitoring the situation, for the communications equipment the X-Men wore also picked up when they spoke to people in their immediate area as well as each other. The disadvantage she had over her teammates was that they could see the scene and she could not, and for that Rogue had to pay particularly close attention to what was said.

It was good for distracting her from the five plants in her home, from which she was receiving a constant supply of life force. Thus far she hadn't seen much progress in trying to control her powers, but no one, not even herself, was expecting this to be a fast process. Rogue hadn't gotten any control over her powers the first time around when they had been weaker, she wasn't expecting any miracles now, even if this time she was able to practice without putting her friends into comas.

The Avengers soon arrived and the battle quickly turned in their favour. Troublemakers either escaped or were rounded up and arrested, and the injured were attended to. There were more and more "little" conversations as the X-Men spoke to the innocent bystanders they were trying to help. In many ways, the clean up was harder for Rogue to follow than the battle. She continued to monitor the situation, however, no matter how hard it got to follow, keeping a particular ear out for her name.

_"...Rogue is our back-to-base contact, and usually the one who organises backup when we need it,_" she heard Storm say. There was a pause while Storm listened to whatever whoever it was she was speaking to replied, and then said: _"She does... I am not sure actually, but she is monitoring us right now. Perhaps you would like to speak to her yourself?"_

A moment later, an unfamiliar masculine voice came down the line, and Rogue figured that Storm must have passed on her ear piece to the gentleman in question.

_"Rogue? Tony Stark here,"_ he said.

Rogue blinked in surprise, but was quick to reply: "This is Rogue. What can I do for you?"

_"I was wondering if you'd be interested in a job interview for a position in my R&D department at Stark Industries,"_ Tony said.

"You want me to work for you?" Rogue asked, startled, and was abruptly aware that this probably wasn't the best way to have this conversation. "Oh, umm, yes I am interested. My schedule's pretty flexible, so whenever a job interview would be convenient for you. As long as you don't mind coming to me. I'm not really in a position to fly out to California, I'm afraid."

_"Yes, I am aware of your situation. That's one of the things that brought you to my attention. I'll have my secretary, Pepper, give you a call to confirm a time."_

Rogue thanked him, but Tony handed the ear piece back to Storm before he heard it.

* * *

A few days later, Tony arrived at Rogue's home in his Iron Man suit. He retracted his helmet as he stepped into the visitor's lounge, and Rogue appeared on the screen almost immediately. She had freaked out a little trying to figure out what to wear, since 'professional' wasn't exactly in her wardrobe anymore, but she managed to put together something she thought would be appropriate for a job interview.

"Good morning, Mr Stark," she said. "Just make yourself comfortable."

"Don't mind if I do," Tony replied, and after a quick glanced around, he settled himself on the lounge. "I'll do us both a favour and get straight to the point; I don't normally hire kids straight out of college. I prefer for them to actually have a few years experience in the real world first. But, in your case, working for the X-Men, I suspect you have a lot more experience than can be put on paper. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Rogue said with a nod. "That would be right."

In point of fact, she and Magneto were the only people at the school with a full working knowledge of Cerebro's construction. Scott had noticed Rogue had an aptitude for the mechanical during his autoshop classes back in the day, so when the time came for them to put Cerebro back together after Stryker dismantled it, he added her to the team. Professor Xavier had also noticed, and ended up having many private lessons with her, instructing her on the finer details of Cerebro. With Jean Grey dead, he was quite conscious of the fact that someone other than himself needed to know these things. From there, Rogue had been instructed in the construction and maintenance of the Danger Room, the Blackbird, and some of the more unique equipment in the med lab.

"Good, because that's what I need," Tony said. "As someone else who's also in the superhero gig, you can offer a unique perspective that most of my current employees—as brilliant as they are—cannot. Especially lately with all the mutant-based fights and incidences going on. I'm expecting that the Avengers and the X-Men are going to continue to be very busy."

"No doubt," Rogue replied and cocked her head at him curiously. "Did you have some particular goal in mind?"

"Anything that helps us to protect the people we're trying to protect," Tony said firmly. "Whether that means developing custom jail cells for super-powered criminals, or just finding a way to proof buildings from being destroyed during a fight. A lot of people were injured, and some were killed, just the other day. Not because they were involved, but just because they happened to be going about their daily business."

Rogue's expression turned thoughtful. She was resistant to the idea of being involved with anything intended to contain or restrain her fellow mutants, more out of concern for such things being used on the innocent rather than criminals. Particularly with Graydon Creed being the popular contender for the upcoming election; she simply didn't trust him—or people like him—not to abuse such technology. However, the idea of being able to prevent people from getting hurt just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time...

"I think there's too much variation in super powers for us to come up with a 'cure all'," she said. "What would work for one type of power wouldn't work on another. Still, not just 'any' power can bring down walls... If there was a way to shield existing buildings with say, a forcefield of some kind. Something that can absorb impact. That would at least help against the worst offenders; super-strength, stray missiles, that sort of thing. Wouldn't help with say, Avalanche's powers though. And we'd have to come up with a way to minimise power usage."

"Earthquake proofing buildings can be a bit tricky," Tony replied. "We've actually already been considering forcefields. Aside from the power issues, there's also the fact that anyone with energy or technology based powers who was of a mind to, could turn them into a weapon."

"You can turn anything into a weapon," Rogue pointed out. "I can turn the room you're sitting in into a weapon if I was of a mind to."

"Oh?" Tony inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"All I'd have to do is lock the doors and cut off the air supply," Rogue explained. "Not that it would be effective on _you_, since you probably have the technical know-how to bypass the doors, and failing that, you could probably use your suit to blast your way out, but that's not really the point. You know... It may be possible to rig the forcefields with a trap. I think that technopaths have a psionic component to their abilities—I can't confirm this because I haven't absorbed much in the way of technology based powers. Theoretically, at least, you may be able to implement some kind of feedback blast that triggers whenever it sets off a psionic alarm. "

"_We_ may be able to," Tony said firmly, and Rogue raised her eyebrows with pleased surprise. "Hadn't even considered that. Whether it proves viable or not, this conversation has just proven to me that you do have a valuable alternate perspective that we're going to need to be effective in this endeavour. I realise your speciality is aerospace—"

"I'm always happy to learn new things," Rogue replied. "I've even already started another college course in environmental engineering."

"Good." Tony stood up and gestured towards the vestibule door. "Mind if I come in?"

"Not at all," Rogue said, a little surprised by the request. "Is your suit airtight?"

"This one can be. I just want to see what your setup is like. We'll probably need to upgrade what you have so you can work from home. Unfortunately, we don't have any airtight facilities that would be appropriate for someone to live in," Tony said. "You'll be on probation for a year, just to see if we can work together. After that, we'll reassess your working situation."

"Alright."

Tony put his helmet back on and made his way through the vestibule to Rogue's living quarters. He glanced over Rogue's computer centre as she welcomed him inside.

"Ah, second hand S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment," Tony said, looking it over. "Good, then you'll already have some experience with the technology."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. Very fast. Definitely no complaints," Rogue replied with a nod and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Shadowcat's a computer science major. She was practically drooling over this stuff when she first saw it, second hand or not."

Tony chuckled knowingly and looked around the room through the analytical sensors in his suit.

"You don't have much space for a workshop do you?" he mused. "Ah, but I see that this place has been designed to be easily expanded. Good. We will make use of that feature."

Tony continued to talk through his analysis, and each word made Rogue all the more excited. She'd just gotten an engineering job with Stark Industries and interviewed by Tony "Iron Man" Stark himself. And it looked like she was going to get her own workshop so she could operate from home to boot. This was the best thing to happen to her since meeting Gambit.

* * *

Hank's face appeared on Storm's monitor in her office, and she immediately knew things had not gone well.

"Yes, Hank?" she asked politely.

"The Mutant Registration Act was passed," he told her grimly. "There is good news and bad news; for the time being registration is—officially—optional. They will be introducing mandatory X-factor testing for newborns once they have the infrastructure set up. Mutant or human status will be added to birth certificates from that point onwards."

Storm closed her eyes and pressed her hands together.

"I see," she said grimly. She had hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Registration for mutants born before that date will remain optional until further notice. There was a big push to make it mandatory now, but for once the bean counters acted in our favour; the only way to catch everyone is to have everyone tested," Hank said. "It simply isn't feasible. They will be _encouraging_ people to voluntarily register, and any criminals who are DNA tested will be checked for the X-factor too. Things like that."

Storm opened her eyes and nodded.

"In good news, there was some positive feedback towards the power control classes I proposed, especially when I mentioned that some of those techniques may provide some telepathic resistance. I emphasised resistance over immunity, of course, as the latter is definitely not probable," Hank went on. "It's not going to be enforced at this time, but I believe it may we worth our while to start a few classes both for children and for potential teachers. At this point, I think it is unlikely that such classes will be compulsory, at least, not until they show some positive results."

"Well then," Storm said. "I suppose we should get started."


	7. Upgrades

Years since Rogue's powers returned: **5-6**

**Chapter 7: Upgrades**

"And that," Hank said as he removed his sensors from Rogue's body, "concludes your check up."

Rogue gave a rueful smile as she avoided looking at the dead plants in the med bay.

"Great," she said. "I don't suppose there's been much progress?"

"Nothing measurable yet," Hank replied carefully. "But I've no doubt—"

"I know. It just would be nice to have some sign of progress." Rogue took a deep breath and pushed herself off the bed. "So, whatcha doing with yourself these days?"

It had come as little surprise to Hank that when Graydon Creed was elected President that he had been replaced as Secretary of Mutant Affairs. He was more concerned by the fact that he knew the new Secretary was passionately anti-mutant and that Graydon had organised things so that Hank had become a social and political liability to his colleagues. Most of those Hank might have called 'friend' were quickly pressured into shunning him, and the few that remained loyal were doing so to their own detriment. Hank decided that the best thing for him to do was to step out of politics, for as things stood his presence was only doing more harm than good.

"Ah, well, it looks like I have a new job," Hank replied, sounding pleased. "I got a call from Nick Fury just this morning; he wants me to join the Avengers."

"Really? Well, congratulations," Rogue said, paused, then asked: "President Creed isn't going to—"

"Fury isn't concerned, which could mean anything coming from Fury, but..." Hank shrugged. "At least with the Avengers I know I'm doing something positive and worthwhile."

"You're always doing something positive and worthwhile," Rogue replied firmly. "And don't you let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

Hank smiled. "Thank you, Rogue. And how are things working out at Stark?"

"It's been...interesting," Rogue said, a little hesitantly. "Tony has all those working on mutant related projects talking to me occasionally for my perspective, and I don't think they really like that too much. It probably doesn't help that I'm younger either. On the technical side, a lot of these projects aren't really my field, but it's actually pretty shocking how much these guys don't know about mutants. I think I really appreciate why Tony wanted to make a point of bringing in that perspective. He's added me to the Quinjet team too; my field, but at the same time I feel more like an observer since these guys know the Quinjets way better than I do. Not to mention I can't exactly help with the construction, not being there. No complaints though; it's been interesting. And I have a project of my own to work on, which is good."

"I'm glad things are working out for you."

"Yeah, I have high hopes I'll be staying on after the probation is over," Rogue said as she headed to the door. "Anyway, I'll let you go. I'm sure you can't wait to get out of that suit."

* * *

"You look like you have something on your mind," Rogue said as she watched Magneto set up his chess board.

Magneto didn't reply immediately, but when he did, his tone was grave: "What do you think about this new mutant hospital they're opening?"

"Well," Rogue replied slowly but thoughtfully. "Part of me thinks this is a great thing. We do need more specialist facilities for mutants, and doctors who can adapt to treating people with very different physiologies. Not to mention alternate methods of treatment for when conventional ones can't work—if a conventional treatment even exists. But the rest of me feels like it's one big trap."

"They're building it in one of the poorest, crime-infected districts," Magneto said, placing his last chess piece on the board, "and it's government funded."

"I don't imagine it matters who it's funded by; we'd be looking into them anyway," Rogue pointed out.

"Most likely. And yet, with our resources stretched so thin these days, how can we be certain one way or the other what's really going on?"

Rogue leaned back into the lounge. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Just making an observation," Magneto replied. "I think we can expect to hear tales of all sorts of trouble in that neighbourhood to come. Mutants getting waylaid by muggers. Poverty-stricken residents being driven out either by their own fear or by mutants wanting to move in and incapable of tolerating their presence."

Rogue paused. "The placement of a hospital in an area where no...prosperous baseline humans want to live. I can see how such a place might become a haven for mutants."

"Haven," Magneto replied, distaste on his lips. "That implies safety."

"It might be safe."

"Temporary at best, if at all," Magneto said in dismissal. "A hospital gives them the perfect opportunity to conduct experiments and lure the mutants to them. For everyone else, well, there's no reason why people can't just disappear off the street. Or why the government can't decide just to order in the army one day and order them to shoot everyone. After all, the mutants would have already done the hard work; rounding themselves us."

"One big mouse trap, huh?"

"And the hospital is the cheese."

There was a long silence.

"Mice don't actually like cheese, you know," Rogue said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. "It's not even good for them. I understand they much prefer cucumbers and dry oats."

"I concur," Magneto replied, pressing his hands together as he leaned back in his own lounge. "A hospital is a valuable resource, but it is hardly what is needed."

"A lot of sick and injured people would argue with you about that."

"As I said, a valuable resource. But what is really needed is for mutantkind to wean itself off of humanity's teat," Magneto said firmly. "We do not need them to survive. They need us. For millennia, humans have suffered from starvation, dehydration, exposure, and all manner of other things, other _basic_ things. We mutants need not fear that. We have those amongst us who can grow food no matter what the season, who can extract water from the very air, and ores from the ground. What takes humans weeks, even months to construct, we can do in a matter of days, perhaps hours. We are quite capable of sustaining ourselves. The humans can't even manage that much."

* * *

A buzz went off in Rogue's home quite early one morning and with a yawn she checked the camera at the front gate. A semi-trailer was there, loaded up with construction supplies. Rogue hit the button for the intercom.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she said.

"Morning, miss. Harry's Hardware making a delivery."

"Yes, we've been expecting you," Rogue said and opened up the gates. "Head up the driveway to the front door. There'll be someone waiting for you."

"Thanks."

Rogue yawned again, and then notified Logan that the delivery they were waiting on was on its way. In an effort to future-proof themselves against their expected population growth, the X-Men had opted to start construction on new buildings now. Almost as if they'd heard her conversation with Magneto, they were doing the construction themselves, and Storm had decided it was well past time they started growing their own fruits and vegetables.

Since she was up, Rogue decided she may as well get herself breakfast. There seemed very little point in going back to bed at this stage. In the mood for fruit parfait, she pulled out some fruit from the fridge, along with her Greek style yoghurt and some oats out of the cupboard.

As she started slicing up the banana, her hand got a little too close to the knife and she cut herself. After exclaiming "ow" and sticking her finger in her mouth as a reflex, she inspected the damage. Except that she couldn't find the cut. Rogue frowned and waited, squeezing her finger a little experimentally expecting to see blood seeping out of the cut, but none came. Confused, because she knew what she felt, and because she knew she had tasted blood, Rogue was left with no choice but to simply forget the matter.

* * *

Gambit dropped his coat over the back of the lounge with one hand, while his other snared the young lady he'd just picked up from the bar. His lips and tongue tangled with hers, and he was about to wrap his first hand around her too, when she pulled back.

"Just a second," she said.

"Of course," Gambit replied.

She opened up a drawer in a nearby cabinet and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen.

"I just need you to sign this first," she said, holding them out to him.

"Sign?" Gambit asked in confusion, taking the paper. "What?"

"Uh huh." She nodded. "It's just confirming that you agree to use protection and that in the event of an accidental pregnancy, you don't have a problem with me getting an abortion. I'm not like some other women; I believe that the father needs to be consulted on these things too. After all, you share equal responsibility."

Gambit held the pen and paper back out to her. "Désolé, ma chère, but I never sign contracts without my lawyer present."

"This isn't a contract. It's an agreement. A precaution."

"This is something you could use against someone in court," Gambit said firmly. "Non, ma chère. This society is legalistic enough as it is. I will not now, nor ever, sign anything just for a one-night stand."

"If you don't sign," she said through tight lips, not yet accepting back the paper and pen, "then we're not sleeping together."

"Fine," Gambit replied, and let the pen and paper drop to the floor. "Night is still young. I'm sure I won't have any problems finding someone reasonable."

"This is reasonable!" she insisted as Gambit picked up his coat.

"No, it's a waste of time that can easily be abused by anyone with a mind to," Gambit said firmly as he strode to the door. "Bonsior, mam'selle; I wish you better luck with your next sucker."

Gambit ignored her angry retort and slammed the door shut behind him.

* * *

"Rogue!" Kitty called as she bounded over to her friend as she made her way to the Danger Room.

"Hey Kitty," Rogue replied with a grin from inside her hazmat suit, giving the smaller girl a hug. "Someone's particularly happy today."

"That's 'cause I have awesome news," Kitty said, her face lit up with excitement. "I'm pregnant!"

Rogue froze momentarily while she processed that.

"Wow, really?" she asked. "Kit, congratulations. That's wonderful."

"Ooh, I know," Kitty replied, hugging Rogue again. "I'm so excited."

"I'm very happy for you, sugar," Rogue said, hesitated and then asked. "Hey, how long have you and Pete been married now?"

"Three years."

"Has it really been that long?"

"Yep! I know, I find it hard to believe at times myself."

Kitty went on being excited for a few more minutes, and then finally released her friend. As Rogue continued on her way to the Danger Room, she couldn't help but wonder where all the time had gone.

Almost as if the announcement of Kitty's pregnancy had been a catalyst, Rogue started hearing more and more announcements from her friends about their social lives. Theresa also declared a pregnancy; apparently the father was some Wade guy that Logan highly disapproved of her getting involved with. Sam and Angelica got back together (Rogue hadn't been aware they'd even broken up). Magneto quietly informed Rogue that he'd just become a grandfather again, and although he didn't say who, Rogue noted it happened roughly about the same time that the Avenger, the Scarlet Witch, and her husband, The Vision, had twin boys. How on earth a mutant and an android had managed to conceive, Rogue had no idea, but suspected that Wanda's probability powers were responsible.

The one that had everyone going "It's about time!" was Logan and Storm's engagement.

"Congratulations," Rogue said the morning Logan dropped by and told her. "And can I say it's about time?"

"May as well," Logan replied cynically. "Everyone else has."

Rogue giggled. "You guys were dating even before my powers went into hyperdrive, and I've been in here over five years."

Logan grunted. "We figure we'll do what Half-Pint and Tin Man did, and have a big ceremony here where everyone who wants to can come. Then we figure we'll have a really small reception in town. 'Ro and I don't really have much in the way of family outside of the X-Men, so..."

"Right," Rogue replied with a nod. "You need to leave baby-sitters here."

"Yeah."

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

Logan departed not long after that, and Rogue looked at one of the nearby plants. It was brown and drooping, and it was only a matter of time before it died completely. How long it had been in her home, she didn't bother to check, but it had only been two weeks at best. She reached out and touched it, sucking up the final remnants of life.

* * *

Thus it was that on top of the usual X-Men activities—running the school, kicking super villain butt, and assisting the Avengers (usually in the form of jailbreaks)—they also had preparations for two babies and a wedding to take care of. Rogue heard all about it whenever someone had the time to fill her in, but she was starting to find that more and more of her interactions with her friends were professional rather than social, with Magneto and Gambit being the only exceptions.

It felt like hardly any time at all had passed when Kitty gave birth to a baby girl, Meredith. A month later, Theresa had a boy, Sean, whom she named after her father. Then Rogue's probation period with Stark Industries ended and Tony took her on as permanent. Two months after that, Gambit arrived in advance for Logan and Storm's wedding. The first thing that struck him upon his arrival was just how much the school had changed since his last visit. There were new buildings, playgrounds, and the produce gardens rivalled the decorative ones.

"Planning for a siege, Stormy?" Gambit asked as he looked over the gardens.

"Worst case scenario." Storm replied after a pause.

"That bad huh?"

"You live out in the world, Remy. Surely you have noticed?"

Gambit shrugged. "They're always out to get thieves, chère, mutant or otherwise. And all the world looks for ways they can feel superior over others, for any and every justification they can come up with, no matter how trivial."

"Perhaps."

A group of students playing tag—mutant style—ran past. Gambit watched with a smirk on his face, then nudged Storm.

"Getting rather crowded around here, hein?" he said.

"It is. We have enough space now for four times as many people, although we are not yet self-sustaining. We are working on it," Storm said, paused for a moment, then added: "And we are looking into other ways to expand. This place is supposed to be a sanctuary for mutants, but we can hardly house the world's population here, and it would be foolish to try. You may have heard, they're building a new mutant hospital?"

"In District X. Yeah, I heard," Gambit replied with a nod.

"While we have doubts about the government's motives, the fact remains that we expect District X to become a mutant town," Storm explained. "It may be worth our while to set up a school there, amongst other things."

Gambit nodded thoughtfully. "Worth a shot, I guess. Just don't try to con me into helping teach."

"Do not worry, Remy. There are no plans to add lock picking to the curriculum."

* * *

After he was done catching up with Storm and Logan, Gambit dropped in on Rogue. He discovered as he approached that the school and the gardens weren't the only things to undergo an expansion. Rogue's home had a new addition roughly the size of a small aircraft hanger. He recalled something about Rogue getting a workshop, but he hadn't pictured anything like that.

The moment Gambit was inside the visitor's lounge, Rogue appeared on the screen. He grinned at her.

"Waiting for me, chère?" he asked.

"I can neither confirm nor deny," Rogue replied cheekily.

Gambit chuckled and gestured to the storeroom. "I'll be with you in a minute."

"Ooh only a minute? Wow, that's fast. You must be the king at putting those wretched things on."

"I can think of far better things to spend my time on," he replied with a hint of suggestion in his voice.

Rogue laughed, then snapped her fingers.

"Oh, there's been some updates since you were last here—" she started to say.

"I noticed," Gambit replied.

"More specifically, there are new hazmat suits in the storeroom."

"Oh?" he asked, wondering if Stark Industries had finished work on the thermoregulating fabric already and hadn't told him.

"Yeah, they're lab variety. They're thinner, and you don't have to use the air cylinders because I've got a new air system installed," Rogue said smugly. "There's hoses in every room; just plug one in, and you have breathable air for as long as you want, and you're not in danger of over-heating."

"Really? I haven't actually used a lab suit before..."

"Just put one on and I'll show you how to plug in the air."

Gambit saluted with a grin and headed into the storeroom. He noted that they still had the old hazmat suits in there. He picked out one of the new ones; it was thinner, but it was also baggy. He got into it, but didn't do it up completely, headed into the vestibule and rang the bell.

Sitting next to the doorbell was a new monitor; slimline, and clear rather than black. Rogue had mentioned that Tony Stark had arranged to have her computers upgraded, but he hadn't realised that had included her security system as well. He had little time to dwell on it as Rogue's face appeared on the screen.

"Just let me finish doing this up," he said.

He sealed the suit, and once he gave Rogue the nod, she opened up the door. She wasted no time in plugging in the curly yellow hose into the port, and told him what she was doing as she was doing it. The air puffed up the suit a little.

"The way it's designed, I won't be able to absorb you if you come in without it plugged in," she said. "The only way I can is if the cord gets severed, which, incidentally, is why S.H.I.E.L.D. never installed the positive pressure system in the first place: They didn't know how dangerous I was or if I'd deliberately try to cut off someone's hose and try to absorb them."

"Well, it's a definite improvement, I can tell you already," Gambit said.

He gave her a hug, and it was then that he finally saw the view over her shoulder. The main room of her home had been widened by about a metre along one side, giving Rogue just that little bit more room. She now had a new set of shelves and a display cabinet, the primary residents of which appeared to be the many souvenirs he'd sent her over the last few years, as well as numerous photos. The kitchenette appeared to be upgraded too.

Her lounge was now sitting on a raised, circular platform. Behind it, also on the platform, were a treadmill and a weights bench. Her control centre had undergone an upgrade too, although that one Gambit had been expecting. The computer itself was still in the console, which hadn't changed, but all her screens had been upgraded to the Stark monitors. Gambit could also see a new surround sound speaker system had been installed. Finally, there was a new door that undoubtedly led to the workshop.

"Wow," Gambit said. "When you said you had some stuff upgraded around here, you weren't kidding."

Rogue chuckled and turned to face the room. Gambit kept his hands on her waist. It was nice not to have so much padding between them, but the hazmat suit still felt impersonal.

"Yup. Originally all that happened was that Tony upgraded the computers," she said. "And the speakers. There was nothing wrong with the old ones, but apparently Tony isn't happy unless he's blasting out music as loudly as possible."

Gambit chuckled.

"Anyway, the fun really started when the probation period was up," she went on, throwing a grin back at him. "This room got expanded. Oh, and see the platform my lounge is now on? That's my contribution."

She walked over with Gambit still attached and picked up a simple remote. She pressed a button and the circular platform start to turn until the treadmill was facing the TV.

"Very nice," he said.

"Yep," Rogue said smugly. "Now I can watch TV and have a choice of lounging around or working out. Yay me."

He chuckled again, and since he was more centre in the room than off to the side, he had a better view of the upgraded kitchen. "Is that...a bar?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah," Rogue said, smirking. "Yeah, I think Tony has this thing about upgrading stuff just for the fun of it. He upgraded my kitchen, even though it didn't need it, and yes, now I have a bar. I'm not really sure what use he thinks I'm going to get out of it, but yeah. Anyway..."

Gambit grinned as Rogue grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the new door.

"This is the best part," she said. "Oh, hang on..."

She stepped through the door and grabbed another hose. "Hoses are single room only, so we have to switch."

Gambit nodded, and watched as Rogue switched the hoses over, paying close attention to how the process was done.

"And now..." Rogue said once the switch was done: "Welcome to my workshop."

They walked though and Gambit stared, wide-eyed, at the primary feature of Rogue's workshop: a small jet plane.

"You have a jet," he said.

"Yup."

"You _have_ a _jet_," he repeated.

Rogue giggled. "Yes, yes I do."

"Why do you have a jet?"

"Tony decided I needed it," she said. "I didn't even know I was getting it either until it arrived three weeks ago. I decided I wanted to show you rather than tell you."

"Well, it's very cool," he said, wandering over to take a closer look. "Not one I'm familiar with though."

Rogue shook her head. "You wouldn't be. It's an experimental craft that didn't end up doing what they wanted it to do. It still flies and everything, it just failed to meet expectations. So I have it. It gets to be my mode of transport and my personal experiment all at once."

"Oh yeah? They want you to try and figure out why it didn't work the way they wanted?"

Rogue shrugged. "Apparently some of my contributions to the quinjet projects were along the lines of what they were trying to do with this. Of course, a lot of folks over there kinda... I think they look down on me a bit, just because I'm so much younger. And I'm the only one who gets to work remotely, and I'm one of the few women. If it wasn't impossible, I think there would be rumours running around that I only got the job 'cause I slept with the boss."

Rogue waggled her eyebrows at Gambit and he laughed.

"Anyway, I don't think they're so much anticipating that I'll get it to work as they are anticipating that I won't, y'know?" she added. "Well, either way, Tony's apparently expecting me to need to do some travelling in the future."

"Cool," he said. "You know how to fly a jet, I take it?"

"Sure. I learned how to fly years ago, and I've flown the Blackbird heaps of times," Rogue replied. "And as it happens, I'm the only one here who's even qualified to run maintenance on her. So I do that and run test flights occasionally. The tricky part is that this baby," she gestured to her new jet, "is way faster than the Blackbird. She will leave the Blackbird in the dust, wondering where the freak storm came from. So I'm doing some sims in preparation."

"Cool. So when do I get to go for a ride?" Gambit asked, grinned mischievously at her.

"Well, it is a work vehicle," Rogue said dubiously. "But then I work for Tony Stark, and he's not exactly in a position to complain about joy riding. Question is, how are you on g-force training?"

"Like that is it?"

"Yeah. And I have to have a custom suit made because mine needs to be airtight, so that when I land, I don't kill everyone the moment I open the hatch," Rogue said with a voice that was partly cheeky and partly bitter. "Plus, y'know, if I have passengers. I think they might appreciate not dying. But yeah, you wanna fly, you gotta do the g-force training first, sugar."

"Been there, done that, got the postcard."

"The postcard? What about the t-shirt?"

"Got that too."

Rogue giggled, and Gambit turned his attention to the actual workshop itself. There was a Stark computer centre tucked away in one corner, along with a number of pieces of equipment he wasn't familiar with at all.

"Nice setup you have there," he said with a nod towards it.

"Yeah, it's pretty good," she replied, leading him over. "No complaints at all. The design equipment is just amazing to work with."

She pressed a couple of buttons by a circular podium, and a hologram of a jet appeared in the air.

"This is the design for the jet over there," Rogue said, and proceeded to demonstrate how she could look at different views and concentrate on specific sections at a time. "According to the computer, she should be running just fine as intended, so it's obviously not perfect, but this is way better to work with than pretty much every other design program I've used."

They spent a few more minutes talking shop and Gambit delighted in how Rogue's face shone while she spoke enthusiastically about her work. Then she showed him the last of her workshop: The double airtight doors that lead outside and would allow the jet to come and go, the new indoor access to her air and water recycling systems, and her recently upgraded power generator.

"Yeah, after everything else got upgraded, the power generator had to as well, or I'd be living in the dark," Rogue told Gambit as they headed back to the living room and switched the hoses over again. "Now I won't be having any power troubles for a long, long time. Tony promised he'd take all the upgrades out of my hide later."

"Aw," Gambit said, and slid his hand down to Rogue's backside. "But I like your hide just the way it is."

Part of Rogue started doing a happy dance because her crush touched her butt, and another part was mad about Gambit being so presumptuous. That part knew without a doubt that under normal circumstances she would have smacked his hand away and told him off in no uncertain terms. The first part pleaded with the second part not to do that in case he took her seriously and never touched her butt again.

"Ahem, well, I guess we'll just have to make another arrangement," Rogue managed to get out, and was both relieved and disappointed when he moved his hand back up to her waist. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

"I'm sure you can too," he replied with a chuckle. "So, did the bedroom and bathroom get an upgrade too?"

"Just the hoses."

"Hmm. I think we need to test out the hose in your bedroom..." Gambit waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Uh huh." Rogue smirked at him. "Yeah, why not? You should learn how to attach and detach the hoses yourself."

He chuckled and they headed over to the bedroom to do just that. Gambit successfully managed to switch the hoses over on his first try, and they stepped inside. Rogue quickly straightened out the bed clothes before Gambit promptly wrinkled them up again by lying on them. Rogue joined him, and he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. Hazmat suit aside, he really enjoyed holding Rogue in his arms. Usually when he held a beautiful woman in his arms it was a prelude to something entirely different, but with Rogue there was no pressure and no expectations on either side, and he found that he really liked that.

"So, going to the wedding?" Gambit asked.

"Of course. Well the ceremony anyway," Rogue replied, thoroughly enjoying being so close to another person. "Obviously I can't go to the reception."

"Why not? It's just a small party at a restaurant. We're gonna be sitting around a table for the evening," Gambit pointed out.

"Yeah, me and social gatherings don't work. I can only do it through—"

"The computer, and you feel like you get left out a lot because you can't go to them to talk, and they forget to come to you," Gambit finished. "But that's not going to be an issue this time. We're all going to be in the one spot. Besides, you're the only one here I know aside from the bride and groom, and I'm pretty sure they're going to be too busy being the centre of attention to be much company."

Rogue giggled.

"Pretty please?" Gambit said, pulling puppy-dog eyes at her through the clear plastic of the helmet. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"You are such a child," Rogue replied, the grin on her face ruining the stern tone she was going for. "Okay, fine. But if I end up spending the whole reception bored out of my mind, I'm blaming you."

* * *

As he had on previous visits, Gambit made a point of spending a few hours every day in Rogue's charming company. On the third day of his stay he even got to see part of the project she was working on with Magneto, as she was programming it into the design computer in her workshop.

"So that's it, huh?" Gambit said, his eyes on the holographic projection of the space station.

"I know it doesn't look like much right now, but—"

"You're talking crazy, chère. It's looked amazing," he interrupted. "Of course, I could just not be used to the holographic interface."

"Smart ass," she said and pointed to various parts of the station as she spoke. "Power centres are here, here, and here. We thought it was best if each section of the station could operate independently; in case of emergency and all that. Hydroponic gardens are here, here, and here. They're going to be huge; not only are they responsible for feeding everyone, but they'll also be part of the long-term air recycling process. We're anticipating planting lots of wheat products."

Gambit listened intently as she talked him through everything from the residential and commercial areas, to the operations, weapons and defensive systems. He shook his head in amazement as she came to an end.

"I can see why you've been so excited about this," he said. "What's the plan, chère? You guys anticipating actually building the thing?"

Rogue shrugged. "I'm not going to get my hopes that high. It would take a lot of resources to build this baby, and most of what we're discussing is theoretical. It's a nice dream, though, I guess."

"Hmm. Seems like a lot of work for something you're not expecting anything to come from," Gambit commented as he continued to look over the holographic space station.

"That's half the fun. No pressure, no deadlines, and if you get something wrong, that's okay, you can always revisit it later," she replied.

"I guess. So, what does your gentleman caller think of your workshop?"

Rogue pulled a face at him, and he grinned back.

"Stop calling him that," she said, lightly slapping him on the arm. "And Erik's never been in here. He never goes further than the visitor's lounge. The only part of this workshop he's seen is through that camera."

Gambit lifted his head and looked at where Rogue pointed; a small camera just above the primary screen. He looked back at the workshop and tried to gauge what Magneto would see through it.

"Too good for a hazmat suit, eh chère?" he asked.

"Maybe. Or maybe he just doesn't know how to use one and is too proud to ask." Rogue shrugged. "He rarely puts a hand on me, anyway. And I've never gotten a hug from him, so I don't know that it matters anyway."

"I see. Instead of seducing your body, he's seducing your mind. How insidious," Gambit said jokingly.

"Remy?"

"Yes, Roguey?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Soon the day of Storm and Logan's wedding arrived. They were out in the gardens and the weather was just perfect. Gambit waited with Logan near the front of the 'aisle' with Kurt, who was officiating the ceremony.

"You clean up pretty good," Gambit said slyly to Logan.

"Shuddup," Logan replied. "You still got the rings?"

"Of course."

"Good. I'd hate for them to go missing."

"Why, whatever could you be implying?"

The music began a few minutes later and as everyone looked towards the end of the aisle, Gambit noticed Rogue standing off to the side in the shade, wearing her hazmat suit. She stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the beautifully dressed people, and his heart went out to her, knowing that she was probably terribly uncomfortable at the moment.

His thoughts of Rogue were distracted by the arrival of Storm's Maid of Honour. Gambit watched the slight woman in the gorgeous red gown and short black hair walk down the aisle, and assumed at first that she was one of the X-Men. That was until he actually saw her face, and he mentally kicked himself for forgetting all about Storm's best friend Yukio. Judging from the startled look that turned into a glare when Yukio recognised him, Gambit guessed that Yukio hadn't expected to see him either.

Yukio stopped across from Gambit, and although neither said a word, their eyes had a very nasty little conversation with each other. There was name calling involved, lots of snide remarks, and a couple of idle threats in just a few seconds, and then everyone's attention was drawn to Storm.

Storm had never really cared much for clothing. For her it was just something she needed to wear for modesty's sake since her powers kept her protected from heat and cold, wind and rain. As such, her beautiful white gown was thin, glamorous, and showed off enough skin that Emma Frost eyed it off as a prospective future outfit.

The ceremony was short and sweet, and before they knew it, it was over. Storm and Logan signed the registrar, and then everyone gathered together for group photos. As if in repeat of what happened at Kitty and Piotr's wedding, Rogue was snagged before she could leave for a couple of extra photos.

"Okay, we'll see you at the reception," Gambit said once Rogue's part in the photo shoot was done. "I do hope you're going to change into something a little more sexy than what you're wearing now?"

"Oh that's a guarantee," Rogue replied with a smirk. "Everything in my wardrobe is more sexy than this."

Gambit chuckled, realising he'd just walked into that one. "Did you get the meals I sent?"

"Yeah, they look great."

"I'm sorry you're going to have to nuke them. Not really the same reheated."

"Nuke all of them? Even the dessert?"

"Smart ass."

* * *

About an hour later, Storm, Logan, Gambit, Yukio, Kitty, Piotr, Bobby, Jubilee, Sam, Angelica, Hank, and Kurt gathered around a table in the restaurant for the reception. Jubilee was scandalised that Storm and Logan only wanted something she considered plain, but the bride and groom shared simple tastes, and hadn't wanted to go overboard. They were celebrating their wedding day with the closest of their friends; that was all they needed.

"Seriously?" Yukio said from where she sat across from Gambit, watching him set up his Stark laptop. "You're going to use the computer at the dinner table? At a reception?"

"Rogue has to join us somehow," Gambit replied nonchalantly.

"Rogue? Who's that? Your online girlfriend?" Yukio sneered. "What's wrong, LeBeau? Has the great womaniser fallen so low he now has to stoop to cyber sex?"

"Rogue was the girl in the hazmat suit at the wedding," Logan said with a hard look at Yukio.

"Don't worry, Yukio," Gambit said with a smirk as Rogue's face appeared on the screen. "I'm still getting more than you ever had. How's that Roguey?"

_"I dunno, Swamp Rat,"_ Rogue said over the speaker while Gambit adjusted the volume to a good level. _"An online relationship could solve my current enforced celibacy problems."_

Gambit paused very briefly and then said: "There are just too many things I could say to that. So, what are you wearing?"

"Gumbo," Logan said with a glare at Gambit.

"What?" Gambit asked. "It's a wedding. You're supposed to get dressed up at weddings. And hazmat suits are so last year."

Rogue laughed, and she stood up so that Gambit could get a better look at the green dress she was wearing. It was simple but elegant, and Rogue had ordered it in specially as she'd given away her skirts and dresses years ago. She was happy for the excuse to get dressed up.

"Very nice," he said. "You look gorgeous."

_"Why thank you, kind sir."_

"Hey," Yukio said, pointing. "That's Stark tech."

"How very observant, Yukio," Gambit replied. "You only just noticed?"

"It's not exactly mainstream technology, LeBeau," she retorted.

Gambit smirked at her. "No, it's not."

"Uh huh. So, who'd you steal it from, and when can we expect the cops to show up? I really don't think the newlyweds would appreciate it if their reception got crashed."

"Actually, as it happens, Rogue works for Stark Industries. Her home is full of Stark tech," Gambit replied smoothly, and Rogue raised her eyebrows at the camera. She had no idea that Gambit had a portable Stark computer. "I dare you to try and break in."

"Do I look stupid to you?"

"Well, you did try to frame me for that string of robberies... How was prison, by the way?"

"Okay!" Storm said, holding up her hands and giving her friends the same kind of stern, no-nonsense look she would give to students for mucking up in class. "That's enough fighting, you two. If you cannot be nice to each other, do not talk to each other at all."

Gambit and Yukio glared at each other, but both silently agreed not to talk to each other for the rest of the reception. Gambit finished setting up his computer; the beauty of the clear screen was that Gambit was able to set things up so that Rogue could be seen from both the back and the front of the computer. Rogue could see the view from either side.

Although Rogue spent most of the reception just talking to Gambit, she found it was the most enjoyable social outing she'd been on in a long time. She missed being able to hang out with a group of friends and celebrate a special occasion. And thanks to Gambit's pre-cooked meals (which she informed him were wonderful, even if she did have to reheat them), she was even able to eat and drink while everyone did, and join in with the toast. She hadn't realised how alone she'd been feeling, and she was glad—even if it was for self-serving reasons—that Gambit had talked her into joining in after all.

* * *

The following day was Gambit's last in New York before heading out on his next job, and since Storm and Logan were off on their honeymoon, he had no qualms about spending the whole time with Rogue. He definitely liked the new positive pressure air system that allowed him to stay in Rogue's place for as long as he wanted. Sure, the new hazmat suit wasn't comfortable, but it was decidedly a lot moreso than the last one. Good ventilation made a significant difference, it seemed. Not having to accommodate for an air cylinder also meant that Gambit could actually sit comfortably on the lounge if he wanted; which he was, with his arms firmly wrapped around Rogue.

"Oh, that's what I was going to ask you," Rogue said as she switched off the movie they'd been watching. "Where'd that Stark computer come from? You know, that you used at the reception, yesterday? It sure wasn't mine, like you implied."

Gambit cleared his throat uncomfortably. He had hoped Rogue would forget to ask. He'd used that computer and not a normal one was because he wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any connection problems, and because he felt its size and appearance would be more discreet.

"Well, as it happens... I'm on the board of directors for Stark Industries," he admitted reluctantly. "Well, sort of. I own the stock, but I have a proxy who does all the meetings and crap for me."

"You're on the board of directors," Rogue repeated, sounding stunned as she twisted her upper body slightly so she could get a better look at him. "When did that happen?"

"Heh, I was twelve at the time," Gambit replied, hesitated, then barrelled on, figuring he may as well tell the whole story now. "You know about the Thieves Guild... Well, there's an Assassins Guild as well, and there was this girl I wanted to impress."

Rogue laughed. "You wanted to impress a girl assassin, so you invested in a weapons developer? That so sweet...and a little disturbing."

"It didn't really work out the way I wanted anyway," Gambit said, giving a slight shrug. "Buuut, as it happens I invested—or mon père did on my behalf—just before Stark Industries went big; this was back when Howard Stark ran the company. The stock I bought quadrupled almost overnight. Gave some serious thought to selling, but aside from the fact that I was still counting on impressing Bella Donna at the time, there were some definite perks and potential opportunities to be had from the investment."

Rogue shifted so that her back rested against the lounge rather than Gambit's chest and gave him a long, interested look.

"Bella Donna," she said. "You know, I believe this is the first time you've ever given me a name."

Gambit shrugged. "She was special. I only ever name the special ones."

"Been a long time since you last had someone special in your life then. Or you're holding out on me," Rogue said with a teasing grin and raised eyebrows.

"Maybe I just have really high standards on what counts as special," Gambit replied slyly.

"My point still stands."

"I guess," he conceded, then shook his head. "Belle's in her fifties now, only unlike me, she actually looks her age. She's got kids, grandkids on the way... And one day she's going to die, and I'll still look 25."


	8. Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

**AN: **I've taken some creative liberties with Pulse's powers in this chapter. Though, having said that, the guy only appears in a handful of comics, so there's plenty of room for liberties.

Years since Rogue's powers returned: **6**

**Chapter 8: Fishy, Fishy, Fishy**

Rogue stepped out of her jet and onto the tarmac and looked around as Nick Fury and his team approached her. Tall stone walls gazed back at her, topped with barbed wire and men patrolling.

"So," she said as the jet sealed closed behind her. "This is the mutant prison I've heard so much about."

"This would be the one," Fury replied.

"Huh. For some reason I thought I'd see more signs of previous battles here," Rogue said thoughtfully.

"We clean up well. Can't be giving anyone hope that there's a chance," Fury said. "This way."

He gestured towards the main gate while some of his men took up positions around Rogue's jet.

"Of course," Rogue replied, and she followed him to the entrance.

It was quite sterile inside, Rogue thought; all very professional and secure, and not the slightest bit welcoming. Four guards were inside, well protected behind a counter with bullet proof glass. They all stood at attention when Fury and Rogue entered the foyer. Fury gestured to an airlock door.

"Through there, please. That's where we do our security check, retina scan, fingerprint," Fury said and hurried on when he saw the anxious expression on Rogue's face appear through the helmet. "And it's completely airtight, so if you're in there alone, we don't have to worry about you absorbing anyone."

Rogue nodded, her momentary anxiety giving way to relief, and she headed into the room. She didn't need to ask why their security checkpoint was airtight. She could think of a lot of ways that such a room could be useful.

The room was bare except for another airlock door on the other side. Both doors had scanners for retina and fingerprint by the side. Once the door behind her was shut, Rogue stripped off the bulk of her hazmat suit. When her eyes and hands were free, Rogue awkwardly strode over to the opposite door.

"New user to be identified," said the voice of a computer. "Please state your name for voice print."

"Rogue."

"Please place your right hand on the pad for fingerprint scanning."

Rogue put her right hand on the scanner, and then her left hand after the computer prompted her. This was followed by the retina scan.

"Special instructions for Rogue user," said the computer. "Airlock doors are to remain sealed until Rogue gives the password. Designate password."

Rogue picked a random password then proceeded to put her hazmat suit back on. Once she was suited up again, she spoke the password. The airlock doors didn't move. Rogue said the password again, still no effect.

"Just a moment, Rogue," Fury's voice then said over the comm system. "Our voice printing software is perhaps a little too good. It's not accepting your password through the suit.

Rogue smiled to herself. "Understood. And I think it's reassuring to know that your security is 'too good'."

Rogue waited patiently for about ten minutes, and then the door behind her opened and Fury entered.

"We'll work out a better protocol for your visits," he said. "But as a guest you wouldn't be allowed in unescorted anyway. For the time being, once you're back in your suit, one of us will open the door."

"Sounds perfectly reasonable to me," Rogue replied.

Nick Fury went through the scans verifying his identity, and then the door to the prison finally opened. As they walked, Fury spoke:

"The prisoner you're going to see goes by the name of Pulse. He creates a pulse from his eyes which disrupts electrical systems. His powers also make him immune to telepathy. He's escaped from custody nine times in his career; most of those were while in human facilities, but three of them were from here. We don't know how, and our conventional methods of finding out don't work, because, as I said, he disrupts electronics. All the cameras go out," Fury said, managing to keep his voice steady despite his irritation with the matter. "Naturally my people always investigate the moment the cameras—or any other security system—goes down, but this guy still manages to get by them. I'm not letting it happen a fourth time."

"And that's why you want me to absorb him; to find out how he's doing it," Rogue stated.

"Right. And to assist in designing a prison cell that will hold him," Fury said. "I understand you've been very helpful to Stark in designing mutant power related technology."

"I might not be able to join the team out on the field, but that doesn't make my desire to help people any less strong," Rogue replied, deciding not to mention that she really didn't like the idea of designing mutant prisons. "Whatever I can do to protect the innocent."

"If there is such a thing," Fury said wryly, then continued with his briefing: "One last thing. Currently, the only airtight cells here are occupied, so we have Pulse in a cell in one of the outer parts of the prison. We've cleared all the other cells in a one hundred yard radius, and Pulse is sedated. I wish we could keep him sedated, but unfortunately, his crimes as a thief—no matter how many times he's escaped custody—don't warrant that kind of treatment."

Fury escorted Rogue to Pulse's cell, where he laid on the bed with a drip attached to his arm. A few minutes later, Rogue got the all clear from Fury via the radio in her helmet. She took a deep breath and began to undo her hazmat suit. It was easiest just to undo the first layer enough to unlatch the helmet underneath.

Unfortunately, when she pulled off the helmet, it wasn't just Pulse's life force she absorbed. In addition to the young, blond thief, she also acquired four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and five other prisoners. Hurriedly she closed up her hazmat suit again, and as soon as her helmet was on, spoke into the radio:

"What the hell, Fury?" she said. "I thought you said you'd moved everyone away!"

"We did. According to our last information your range is fifty yards. We moved everyone one hundred yards away. That should have been well and truly far enough," Fury replied angrily. "Did you get the information from Pulse?"

"I can't tell," Rogue said, trying not to sound snide, but feeling irritable from the unexpected absorptions. "He's mixed in with the nine other people I just absorbed. I'll need a few minutes to sort my head out."

"Fine. Contact me when you have your head sorted. We'll move everyone just in case you need a second attempt."

There was a click and Rogue glared at Pulse just because she couldn't glare at Fury. She sighed irritably, then leaned against the wall with her eyes closed, trying to make sense of things. The only thing she was happy about was that getting ten minds at once hadn't appeared to have done her any injury like it had the first time she absorbed multiple minds.

It turned out to be easier than she thought it would be to identify Pulse's method of escape. Once she'd picked out his powerset from the other five powersets she'd acquired, she'd been able to find associated memories as well as gain an appreciation for how the power itself worked.

"Alright Fury," Rogue said after a few minutes. "I've got your intel."

Fury rejoined her shortly thereafter and she briefed him as they headed back out. He would have preferred to actually sit down and talk, but he was aware that Rogue's time was limited by her air supply.

"Pulse disrupts electrical systems, and as it happens, the human brain is an electrical system," Rogue said as they walked down the hall. "Normally he just disables mutant powers and he does this by spending a specialised pulse to that particular part of the brain. However, he can do it to disrupt train of thought. He does it on the guards every time they go to lock him in; if he times it just right, and the guard doesn't check, his cell doesn't get locked. You know how sometimes you'll say, lock the front door of your house, get in the car, and then ask yourself if you locked the door because you did it automatically and don't actually remember doing it? Same sort of thing, which is how he gets away with it."

"Damn. We had to use conventional locks with him, 'cause he can disable the electrical ones we use on the other cells. Most of them, anyway. They have a light indicator... But you know that already."

"Anyway, once he's been able to acquire an unlocked cell, he just waits until it's convenient and walks right on out," Rogue went on. "And he uses his powers on any guards that happen to catch up with him—as long as he moves out of their line of sight fast enough, he gets away with it. As for your airtight security check point; child's play to a thief of his calibre."

"We already know how he's getting through that," Fury said. "Recommendations?"

"The simplest is make sure that all your staff double check the lock, but I'm sure that goes without saying," Rogue said. "As far as a customised cell is concerned... I'd personally go with a double door system, or maybe a triple door one. Just make sure that the other doors are out of his sight. He might be able to send a pulse, but he would have to time it perfectly to disrupt the guard's train of thought, and without the visual clue... Other than that, I don't think anything else is necessary, or even advisable. There's certainly nothing of an electronic nature that will hinder him, as you already know."

"Alright. Damn. This, disrupting our brains thing...?"

"If it's dangerous—and we should probably assume that anything interfering with one's brain is—I can't give you specifics. Pulse just pulls the trigger, he doesn't stop to check the damage."

Fury shook his head. "What we really need is a way to shut off mutant powers. It's a damn shame they can't make the Cure any more."

"I disagree," Rogue replied much to Fury's surprise. "I'm glad that they can't make the Cure any more, regardless of what happened to me, and I certainly won't be participating in any project intended to find a way to shut off mutant powers."

"Not even your own?" Fury asked.

"If I could shut off my own powers..." Rogue trailed off and shook her head. "No. The Cure was intended to help mutants, but it was also used as a weapon against them."

"The Battle at Alactraz was instigated by mutants," Fury pointed out.

"Yes, because they could see what no one else wanted to—or what others were hoping for. If the Cure was still in production it could be made mandatory for all mutants to take it. It could be taken by mutants just coming into their powers with no real understanding of what they can do, just looking for the easy fix. Or by those same kids being pressured into it by family and peers who think they should be 'normal' and try to fit in with everyone else," Rogue replied acidly, very much aware of her own reasons for having taken the Cure. "Not to mention the possibility of mutants being outright assaulted with the stuff. No, Fury. Anything that can shut off mutant powers is a bad idea, and I don't care how many uses you can think of for such technology."

* * *

Later that day a glum looking Rogue appeared on Gambit's Stark computer.

"Hey chère," he said. "Something bugging you?"

"Did a job for S.H.I.E.L.D. today," she said from her lounge, staring at the wall rather than looking at him. "Ended up absorbing ten people when I was only supposed to absorb one. The other nine should have been out of range but..."

"But?"

Rogue sighed heavily. "But it turns out my area of effect has expanded and no one had any idea because I spend all my time in this place. And to add insult to injury, I'm now testing out as a level 5.03 mutant."

"What were you before?"

"4.98, and originally I was a 4.16," Rogue said irritably.

"That's quite a jump."

"You're telling me," Rogue muttered. "And Hank thinks that's why I'm not seeing any progress in getting my powers under control; because my abilities are increasing, so I keep having to compensate for the increase. And I don't know how much you know about the scaling system—"

"I don't even know where I rate."

"Well, it's a sliding scale, of sorts. Jumping five points at the bottom of the scale is only a small power increase. Jumping five points at the higher end like I did? That's massive. You jump points faster at the bottom end that you do at the top."

"I see," Gambit replied, and looked at Rogue thoughtfully. "So, what does this mean for you now that you're officially class five and not simply borderline?"

"It means I wonder how long before I turn into the next Jean Grey," she muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?" Gambit asked, not getting the reference.

"It means the worst possible thing I can do at the moment is give up trying to get my powers under control or even have a break, and if anything I should try stepping things up," Rogue said crossly, not caring to explain about what happened to Jean when her class five powers broke loose. "Four years I've been trying to get this bitch under control and for four years—six even—they've been racing off ahead of me and laughing at me while I try to catch up."

Gambit then waited patiently while Rogue dissolved into a rant seasoned with the odd expletive about the curse that was her mutation. He let her vent, figuring she was probably well overdue since he couldn't remember the last time she'd ranted and raved. Finally there was a long silence while Rogue buried her face in her hands.

"I just... I just want some normality in my life. The basic, normal, every day stuff that everyone has," she said, the rage that had previously been in her voice giving way to despair. "I want to breathe the same air as other people. I want to touch people. I want to be able to stop and smell the roses and breathe in the scent of their perfume, not of their decay. I want to go out with my friends. I want to date. I want a boyfriend and to fall in love, and get married and have kids and grandkids and I..."

Rogue couldn't say any more for she was too far gone in tears to get any words out. Gambit's heart broke just looking at her. He wished so much he could be there, put his arms around her and just hold her. Words felt like the wrong thing right now, but not responding at all felt worse. His mind raced for something to say. Something tangible that wouldn't be patronising or offering false comfort.

"Well," he said finally, his mind latching onto the last thing she spoke about, "you could always sponsor a kid."

Rogue sniffed and looked up at him with a tear stained face. Gambit shuffled uncomfortably, hoping he wasn't about to dig himself into a hole.

"That's a perfectly normal thing to do. Lots of people sponsor children, and I bet that most of them never even meet the children they're supporting," he went on carefully. "They just write letters and stuff."

Gambit winced when Rogue started weeping again, but then felt a wave of relief with her next words:

"I actually really like that idea," she said between her tears.

"Those are tears of joy then?" he asked with a light teasing tone.

"Shuddup. Stupid Swamp Rat."

* * *

Gambit was left thinking about his conversation with Rogue days after it was over. He was sure that there had to be more ways of adding normalcy to her life, he was just struggling to think of any.

In any case, on this particular day his mind was not so much on Rogue as it was on his new girlfriend Abigail. He had yet to mention her to Rogue, feeling like now was not really the time to share the latest on his love life. Abigail was a petite blonde who coached gymnastics for a living. Gambit was quite appreciative of her gymnastic abilities.

He wasn't quite so appreciative of her tendency to drop everything the moment a pet shop came into sight and run over to coo over the puppies and kittens. It was amusing the first one or two times, but after the fifth time in one day, Gambit was quite over it, and made a mental note never to let her talk him into going shopping with her again.

"Look! That one's chasing its tail," she giggled, pointing to a little black and white kitten. "Isn't it so adorable?"

"Very cute," Gambit replied absently.

His eyes strayed from the kittens and wandered around the pet store. It had the usual pet shop kind of things; equipment, food, rabbits, mice, so on and so forth. As he glanced over at the fish he could see one of the shop assistants feeding them. Abigail went right out of his mind and he wandered over.

"Excuse me," he said politely. "Do all fish surface to eat, or do some prefer to eat lower down?"

The assistant glanced at him, momentarily distracted. "Plenty like to eat further down. In fact I'm about to feed the neon tetras over there: they're mid-level eaters."

Gambit watched with interest as she dropped the food into the aquarium. Sure enough, the fish preferred to wait until their food had sunk to an appropriate level before eating.

"Huh," he said, and looked at the assistant once more. "Talk to me about fish."

While continuing to feed the rest of the fish on display, the assistant proceeded to chat about all the basics of setting up an aquarium. She wondered at the interest he had in "no surface eaters" and was a little irritated that a customer had chosen that moment to pump her for information.

Finally Abigail realised she had lost sight of her boyfriend and hurried over.

"Hey sweetie," she said. "What's going on?"

"Just inquiring about fish," he replied nonchalantly.

"Ugh, fish? Really?" Abigail asked. "They're so boring."

"Yeah, I used to think that too," Gambit said, and pulled out a couple of twenty dollar bills from his pocket. "I changed my mind."

Gambit handed the cash over to the assistant, who accepted it with some astonishment.

"Merci for your assistance, mam'selle," he said. "You've been more helpful than you can know."

Both women were quite surprised by the gesture, but neither had a chance to respond as Gambit took that moment to tuck Abigail under his arm and head out of the store. Abigail needed a moment to register where they were, and then wonder how on earth Gambit got them out so quickly.

"Why the interest in fish?" she asked.

Gambit glanced at her, then at the next pet store coming up in the mega mall.

"Look, chère," he said, pointing. "More kittens."

* * *

Storm was somewhat surprised to get Gambit's call a month later.

"You are coming over?" she asked in surprise.

"Oui."

"You are aware it has only been months rather than years since your last visit, right?"

"The thought has occurred to me," Gambit replied with a grin in his voice. "And if all goes well, I'm going to be there for a few weeks. I have a little project for Rogue that I'm hoping she'll go for."

"Oh? What is that?"

Gambit chuckled. "You'll find out."

Storm gave a long-suffering, but good-natured sigh. "I will make sure a room is made up for you."

"Merci."

* * *

Rogue, as always, was delighted to see Gambit. As soon as his air was plugged in on the first day of his stay, she was hugging him like a madwoman, and then dragging him across to one of the shelves she had photos on. She pointed eagerly to a card in the middle.

"That's my sponsor child," Rogue said enthusiastically. "Her name's Thanusha and she's just turned five, and she lives in Sri Lanka."

"Sri Lanka," Gambit repeated with a nod. "What made you pick Sri Lanka?"

"I didn't. I just opted for a girl," Rogue replied. "They picked the country." She hugged him again. "Thank you, Remy. This was a wonderful idea."

"Heh, you're welcome, ma chère. Glad I could help," he said, cleared his throat, and continued: "Which brings me to the reason for my visit. I have...an idea for something else normal you could have."

"Oh?" she asked with eager interest.

"How'd you like a pet?"

Rogue's smile faltered. "Like a pet rock or something?"

"No, like an actual, living pet."

"That's not possible. Living creatures don't last long around me," she said as she pulled away.

"What about fish?" Gambit asked, eyeing her cautiously, having expected that reaction.

Rogue paused and glanced back at him. "Fish?"

"Would water be enough of a barrier?" Gambit asked her, and smiled when he saw the cogs ticking over in her mind. "You can get mid and low level feeders; they'll wait for any food to sink before they try to eat it. You can have plants—you may have to trim them occasionally so that they won't breech the water's surface, but you'd have to trim them anyway to they don't overgrow. Well, unless you decide to go with fake plants. And we could set things up to do an automatic water change so that you don't have to worry about killing anything by changing the water manually. You may still kill some bacteria, but at least you won't have to worry about killing the plants or the fish. At least, that's the hope..." He eyed her speculatively. "Care to experiment?"

For a moment she didn't say anything, and finally she asked: "What did you have in mind?"

"Neon tetras. They're mid-level feeders and shoalers, so you'd want at least six of them. And you can always add other fish as well later on," he replied, not bothering to hide his grin. "I was half thinking of actually buying them outright and surprising you with them straight away, but it turns out you want to do things like create an environment for them first. We pick out a tank—and a dark corner to put it in—"

"Hmm," Rogue considered as she looked around her home with all its LED lights. She pointed off to one side next to the door to the med bay. "We could take out that light. That might be a good spot."

"Looks good," Gambit replied with a nod. "Alright, when we get the tank, one of the things we need to do is dump in the appropriate bacteria and give it a couple of weeks for the cultures to grow. Between that and the plants when we get to the aquascaping part, we should be able to figure out if the fish will be safe before we even buy them."

Rogue nodded thoughtfully, then smiled at him. "You've been putting a lot of thought and research into this, haven't ya?"

"Yeah, my ex didn't appreciate it at all," he replied wickedly.

"Your ex? The gymnastics coach didn't work out?"

"Nah, she was always dragging me into pet stores so she could go ga ga over the puppies and kittens. Always. Which is how I found out about the fish. Then I was the one dragging her into pet stores." Gambit grinned. "She didn't seem to like it when the shoe was on the other foot."

Rogue laughed.

* * *

Rogue wasn't entirely certain how Gambit had talked her into this, and yet there she was in a pet store, her hand in his, trying to ignore everyone staring at the weirdo in the hazmat suit. The local store wasn't all that far away, and Gambit had assured her they could make it there and back without her running out of air. Rogue was a lot more nervous about this than she thought she would be; it was the first time she'd been outside Xavier's gates—aside from the visit to the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison—since her powers had gone haywire.

"Can I help you?" a shop assistant inquired, addressing Gambit and trying not to stare at Rogue.

"Please," Gambit replied. "We're after an aquarium; 30 gallons or something thereabouts. And of course the filter and the bacteria, and all that jazz."

"Of course," she replied. "Right this way."

Rogue was relieved that the aisles were fairly wide. Her peripheral vision in the hazmat suit wasn't the greatest and she would have hated to knock things down. She was grateful for Gambit keeping a guiding hand on her at all time. She never thought she'd be so nervous walking into a store again.

The three quickly got down to business. Gambit's prior research—which he'd shared with Rogue before going out—meant that things could go as quickly as possible. They picked out the aquarium and stand, and the first of the basics they would need to get started. Gambit insisted on paying, much to Rogue's annoyance, but he was firm. He felt he should carry some of the burden in case it didn't work out.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Gambit said later as they loaded everything into the car he'd "borrowed" from the school.

"I suppose it could have been a lot worse," Rogue replied ruefully. "I could have done without the staring though."

"Rats," Gambit said as he shut up the back of the car. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice I couldn't keep my eyes off you."

Rogue laughed.

They got in and made it back to Xavier's with twenty minutes of air left. They got everything into the vestibule, and then Rogue headed inside to strip off while Gambit changed into a hazmat suit. Gambit was ready first and he was just plugging himself into the air when Rogue came out of her bedroom in nothing but a pair of short-shorts and a tank top. She didn't acknowledge him but went straight for the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water which she partly poured on herself before drinking any.

"Hot, I take it?" Gambit said, watching with undisguised admiration as the water dripped down her body.

"Just a tad, yes," she replied, and then gulped down some more water.

Gambit chuckled. He may have decided not to pursue Rogue romantically, but that didn't mean he couldn't still find her attractive, and with her curvy figure and toned body it was hard not to. Rogue seemed to notice his attention, but was too hot to be embarrassed by it.

"Well, now," he said slyly as she poured some water on her head. "If this is what happens when you take off your hazmat suit, I should take you out more often."

"This is just a stop gap until I can get in the shower," Rogue replied haughtily as she ran her fingers through her short hair to comb the water through.

"Oh?" Gambit asked. "Well, farbeit for me to stand between you and your shower..."

Rogue pulled a face at him, although she was secretly flattered by his flirting.

"Alright Swamp Rat. Let's get everything in here," she said.

* * *

The next couple of weeks were something of a chemistry experiment while they figured out how to get the water just right. The store bought water conditioners were intended for tap water being used, but Rogue used recycled water which was another chemical mix again. It took some experimenting before they got the mix right, a task in which Rogue's current studies in environmental engineering came in useful. While that was going on, Rogue designed and built something to do automatic water changes.

While the experiment was going on, Rogue stopped keeping plants around the house for proximity absorption practice and restricted herself to touch-only practicing to make sure that the only thing she absorbed by proximity—if anything—was coming from the aquarium. It made for a rather relaxing few days with no plants in the house, and she was happy to tell Gambit that she hadn't really noticed getting anything from the tank.

Gambit spent a great deal of time with Rogue over those weeks and even ending up taking over the kitchen. Rogue would wear the hazmat suit while he cooked, partly so that his suit didn't end up getting cut (although that would have been an achievement given the thickness of the plastic), and partly to ensure the fresh food would remain at its best and unsullied by Rogue absorbing the bacteria—good and bad. Gambit would go into the visitor's lounge so that they could both eat at the same time once their meals were cooked.

They stayed up late watching movies on the lounge one night, and ended up falling asleep together. Gambit woke rather uncomfortably the next morning with a dead arm from Rogue lying on it. There was a calm light in the room.

"Morning," she said when she roused.

"Morning," he replied, then paused and frowned. "Wait... How do we know it's even morning? There's no sunlight in here."

"Yeah I know. There's two sets of lights; manual, and automatic. The automatic ones are to regulate my body clock; they go from blue in the morning," she said and Gambit noted that the light in the room had a bluish tinge, "to white, and then red in the evenings, and finally off overnight. The manual ones are for if I need extra light, or if I get up in the middle of the night or something."

"Thought of everything, didn't they?" Gambit mused as they started to sit up. He rotated his shoulders. "Yep, I can tell I've been sleeping on the couch. Next time we fall asleep together, it's gonna have to be in your bed, chère."

"I'm not sure how that would happen," Rogue replied as she got off the lounge. "Unless we'd planned for you to sleepover, we'd probably be on the couch in front of the TV again. And those hazmat suits might be more comfy than the last ones, but I can't imagine that they're all that pleasant to sleep in."

"Heh, yeah," Gambit said. "Well, maybe we'll have to get a TV in your room. In the meantime, I have to visit the little boy's room."

"I'll get breakfast ready," Rogue said as he headed to the door. "Leave it out in the vestibule for you? That's assuming you don't mind completely micro-organism free food."

"Sounds good."

Rogue grinned as Gambit departed and then made her way to the kitchen with a yawn.

After a couple of weeks, they took a sample of water from what had been collected by Rogue's water changer. Rogue stuck her finger in the small container and immediately sucked up all the bacteria in it. There wasn't much, but it was enough for Rogue to notice. She grinned at Gambit.

"I think this is going to work," she told him excitedly.

Once they were satisfied with how things were working out, they moved on to putting plants in. This became another chemistry experiment in getting the CO2 and oxygen levels right, but Rogue decided that she really liked the idea of having live plants. It would be nice to have plants in her house that she wasn't killing.

When at last they were satisfied that the plants were going to survive—Rogue hadn't noticed any increase in absorption—they picked up a small school of neon tetras. Gambit had the honours of transferring the fish to the tank while Rogue waited in the vestibule.

"Alright," he said when he was done. "You can come back in now."

Rogue opened up the door and paused just before stepping inside. Gambit glanced at her, then back at the fish. A slow grin appeared on Rogue's face when she was satisfied that she hadn't absorbed anything.

"They seem to be okay," he said with a grin.

"I don't think I'm getting anything," she said, her voice full of excitement.

"Well, they're swimming around, not floating to the top or anything," Gambit confirmed with a nod towards the tank.

Rogue's face lit up with even more excitement as she hurried over to the tank to watch her new pets. She bounced a little on the spot out of sheer joy. She clapped her hands and looked up at Gambit.

"I have pets, Remy," she said. "Real life living pets. And I'm not killing them!"

Gambit had no chance to respond, for Rogue threw herself at him. He caught her and whirled her around in a big, thrilled-to-pieces bear hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," she said. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Heh, you have no idea how relieved I am it worked," Gambit replied, hugging her tight. "I don't know what I would have done if water hadn't turned out to be a good barrier."

"You're a brilliant man and you have lots of experience with placating women," Rogue teased, grinning up at him. "I'm sure you would have come up with something."

Gambit chuckled. Rogue gave him a final squeeze and looked back at her new aquarium.

"Hello fishy, fishy, fishies," she said delightedly.

Gambit chuckled some more when she made fish faces at the glass. It was so simple, and yet so significant—for both of them. He wasn't really in the habit of going out of his way to do something special for someone, and if he did it was usually something that could be done quickly. It had been about a month by the time they'd been satisfied with everything enough to introduce the fish, and during that time Rogue still had work, and he had to deal with everyone voicing their concerns about the advisability of this little experiment. A lot of people had been concerned about the cost of failure. He had been too, but he really hated being nagged about it by people who never bothered to go beyond the visitor's lounge—if they even went that far.

"We should probably let your friends know our little experiment was a success," Gambit said, remembering. "I'm sure they'd like to hear the good news."

"Oh yes, good idea," Rogue said happily and dashed over to the computer to call Logan, who barely had a chance to say "What?" before Rogue piped up with: "Logan guess what!"

"I don't have to dice up the Cajun for getting your hopes up?" Logan asked, presuming from her excited tone that it was good news. Gambit snorted, having heard Logan on speaker.

"I has fishies!" Rogue said merrily.

"I'm very happy for you, darlin'."

"Thank you! I'm so excited. I have pets. Yay me!"

Gambit chuckled. He had a feeling Rogue was going to be on a happy and excited high for awhile. And a good thing too, in his opinion. It was too easy for her to get miserable. The fish would need some time to adapt to their new home, and Rogue would need to ensure that the oxygen and CO2 levels remained stable now that the fish were added, but everything from then on was normal aquarium keeping issues.

Rogue called a few others and told them the news with great joy. The news spread from there, and Hank in particular was quite relieved that the experiment had been a success. He, possibly better than anyone, was very much aware of the current state of Rogue's emotional and mental health. Although Emma hadn't said as much out loud, she was relieved the fish were alive and well too, especially as she hadn't had any luck getting into Rogue's head at all since her visit to the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison, and could no longer provide any telepathic care.

"I don't know what I'm happiest about," Rogue told Hank. "The fact that I'm not absorbing them, or the fact that I can have something as normal as a pet, which I can look after in the normal fashion, and don't have to do anything unusual or special for. Well, I might wear a hazmat suit for transferring them in and out of bowls, but that's about it, and it's hardly going to be a regular occurrence so I don't think that counts. And as long as I keep up proper maintenance I shouldn't have any problems."

"I have to admit, Rogue, I was very concerned about this experiment," Hank replied. "You do strip the life from creatures living in soil, after all."

"I know, I was concerned about that too," Rogue said, nodding. "But I think—and I guess we'll have to do some controlled experiments to confirm—that the fish are only in danger if a plant grows above the surface. If that happens I'll probably absorb the whole plant, and possibly all the other life in the aquarium as well. Isn't that what we decided about the soil? That I was able to absorb the life from within it because I was absorbing plants right down to the roots and getting in through anthills and stuff?"

"You may be correct. We shall have to do some water based experiments sometime."

"Yup," Rogue replied, paused, and then her face lit up once more as she proceeded to sing: "I has fishies! I has fishes!"

Gambit chuckled as Rogue proceeded to dance around the room and grinned up at Hank's amused expression on the screen.

"I think she's excited," Gambit said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes," Hank replied. "I think so too."

* * *

**AN: **That was nice, wasn't it? This is one of my favourite chapters, which actually makes what I'm going to say next all the harder.

**Fair warning: **The next three chapters focus on depression and suicide (moreso chapters 10 and 11). I'm letting you know so that you can decide how you wish to approach reading them, since I really don't want to make you guys feel miserable for three weeks. Goodness knows I felt miserable writing them (which hopefully means I did a good job). If any of you decide that you want to read them all at once and get it over with in one fell swoop, then Chapter 12 will be posted on the 7th or 6th of December (depending on your time zone, haha).


	9. Downward Spiral

Years since Rogue's power returned: **6**

**Chapter 9: Downward Spiral**

Blam! Blam! Blam!

Rogue lowered her gun and gave a nod towards the target which had but one hole, dead centre in it. Using guns still bugged her, and she didn't think they were nearly as much fun as it was brawling. Nevertheless, firing a gun didn't use up as much air as smacking someone around did. It irked her a little that Magneto had been right to suggest it.

"Computer: End Program," she said.

The firing range and all the guns vanished from sight, and Rogue began to get dressed into her hazmat suit. She had learned to shoot as a kid, and although she had gotten a little rusty, she quickly regained her former skill and improved on it. She still preferred to punch someone in the face though.

Rogue owned the only real guns on the school grounds; a tranquilliser gun, a rifle, and a hand gun, plus the appropriate ammo. The guns were kept locked in a weapons locker in Rogue's home, although it did seem a little redundant in a school where half the kids were just as dangerous, if not moreso. Rogue was a little reluctant about having the hand gun and the rifle, but recognised there were times when it would be more appropriate for her to have a bullet instead of a tranquilliser. Still, if that time came, she intended to shoot to wound, rather than kill.

Unless she ever had to shoot herself.

The grim reality that had occurred to her, which she never voiced, was that one day something might happen to her hazmat suit while she was in public. She would not be responsible for the deaths of so many people—of anyone, at all. If there was no way for her to repair her suit then and there, or get to safety, she intended on shooting herself. Rogue was fairly certain from the fact that she had managed to get herself back to Xaviers from college and seclude herself safely from other people—despite not remembering a thing except for the time, 3:15pm—that she would be able to do this no matter how many voices were invading her head at the time.

Rogue finished dressing and opened the Danger Room doors. As she headed back home, she couldn't help but notice how much more crowded the mansion seemed these days, and how few she even recognised. Her friends weren't stopping by as much to say hi and hug her. Rogue knew that it wasn't personal and they would if they could, but a part of her was rather sore that they couldn't just take five minutes out of their busy schedules to say hi.

She finally got home and stripped off the hazmat suit as soon as the airlock door shut behind her. She sighed as the last of it dropped to the floor and looked at her aquarium.

"Hey my fishies," she said. "How you doing?"

The fish continued to swim in their school in the open part of the tank.

"No one hugged me today either," Rogue said. "I wish I could hug you. But I guess no one can hug their fish. Well, except that Rex fisherman guy who seems to like kissing his fish before throwing them back. Weirdo Australians."

* * *

A little later that day, Rogue heard the buzzing noise that indicated someone had come over, and she hit the button to look into the visitor's lounge. She was very surprised and pleased to see Kitty and Piotr were there with Meredith and a second baby.

"Hey," Rogue greeted, very happy to see them. "It's great to see you!"

"It's good to see you too," Kitty replied and she blew a kiss to the screen. "I know it's been awhile. Sorry about that. Buuut we wanted you to meet Hunter."

Kitty held up the little baby boy dressed in green up to the screen and the camera thereof.

"Hi Hunter," Rogue said warmly before looking curiously at Kitty while Piotr played with Meredith, who was fussing. "Where'd he come from?"

"You mean we didn't tell you?" Kitty asked, blinking in surprise.

"Tell me what?"

"Ohmigod, I can't believe we didn't tell you!" she exclaimed and frowned at Piotr. "Pete, why didn't you tell her?"

"Uh... I thought you did," Piotr replied while Meredith grabbed his nose.

"I thought I did too."

"Tell me what?" Rogue asked again.

Kitty took a deep breath and turned her attention back to Rogue while cuddling Hunter. "Hunter is the son of the younger sister of a friend of mine from college. My friend is an absolute angel, but her sister is a little brat who decided she didn't want Hunter any more the minute she found out he was a mutant, and wanted to just dump him somewhere. Ugh."

"That's horrible!" Rogue exclaimed.

"I know!" Kitty agreed and looked sympathetically down at Hunter. "Poor little cherub. Anyway, so my friend finds out what's going on and... Well, to make a long story short, we adopted him. And we adopted him directly, no adoption agency so we don't have to go through all the rigmarole of proving we're worthy parents or anything. Paperwork just went through today. It's all happened very quickly, so maybe that's why I forgot to tell you."

"Oh sugar," Rogue said, seeing the distress of forgetting written all over Kitty's face. "You're trying to juggle having a career, and being a wife and a mother to _two_ kids now. I get it."

"It's no excuse," Kitty replied stubbornly. "You're my best friend, and adopting a child is a big deal. I should have remembered—"

"How old's Meredith now?" Rogue cut in with a nod towards Piotr and Meredith, sensing that a change of subject was in order.

"Six months," Piotr replied.

"You're joking," Rogue exclaimed. "It hasn't been six months already, has it?"

"Da."

"My word. Where in the world has the time gone?"

"I often ask myself the same question," Kitty replied, and eyed her friend speculatively. "We haven't been neglecting you, have we, Rogue?"

Rogue momentarily froze. She had been feeling neglected, but that wasn't something she wanted to admit.

"Oh, it hasn't been that bad. I'm juggling two jobs and further education, so I have plenty to occupy me," Rogue replied, trying to brush it off.

Kitty rolled her eyes and put Hunter down in his basket.

"You are such a liar," Kitty informed Rogue. "I'm coming in there and giving you a hug."

Rogue smiled and Piotr chuckled lightly as Kitty phased into the storeroom. She immediately phased out again and looked at Rogue.

"You have new suits in here," Kitty said.

"Umm, yeah, they've been there for awhile now," Rogue replied. "Tony upgraded my place when my probation period was up."

"That's right. I remember you saying," Kitty said with a frown. "Plus it's a little hard not to notice the great big hanger you have attached to your place now."

Rogue giggled.

"But that was months ago," Kitty continued, her frown deepening.

"Almost five months, I guess," Rogue said with a glance at Meredith. "I think Meredith was about six weeks at the time."

"That long? Omigod, I'm a terrible friend!" Kitty exclaimed. "Five months since I last visited you here? That's, that's..."

"You just had a baby, Kitty," Rogue insisted. "I'm not offended and the last thing I would describe you as is terrible. Now, do you need me to talk you through putting on the new suit? The air supply is external instead of internal—there are hoses in here that we plug in. It actually has ventilation, and it means you can stay as long as you like to. Remy stayed here for hours at a time when he was here last."

"Oh did he just?" Kitty asked with a twinkle in her eye, and before Rogue had a chance to respond: "Hang on. I'll grab one and we'll see if I can figure it out."

A few minutes later, Kitty was in Rogue's living room, giving her a huge hug, as tightly as she could manage.

"Oooh I missed you, sweetie," Kitty said. "Also, it's way easier to hug you in this suit."

Rogue chuckled lightly and hugged her back gratefully. "I know. And I've missed you too."

"I promise I'll try to come around more often," Kitty said. "I don't want you to feel neglected."

"I don't either, but please, don't beat yourself up about it if you can't," Rogue replied seriously as they finally broke apart their hug. "I'm informed that being a mother can be very time consuming and exhausting. I'm not going to hold it against you if you can't come over that often."

"Hmph. Well, thank you. But I still should have at least called and told you about Hunter before now," Kitty said grumpily, still not at all impressed with herself. "Alright, how about these fish of yours?"

Kitty really liked the way Rogue's face lit up at the word 'fish'. It had been a while since she last saw her so happy about something. Rogue eagerly pulled her over to the aquarium.

"Wow," Kitty said, taking in the school of fish swimming in their cosy green environment. "How many?"

"Fifteen."

"Do they have names?"

"Angela, Ben, Cody, David, Elle, Fifi, Greg, Harry, Ingrid, Jack, Karen, Lucy, Melville, Nancy, and Owen," Rogue replied with a slight smirk. "Just don't ask me which one is which."

Kitty laughed.

"And all the plants are real?" Kitty asked, leaning forward to take a closer look.

"Every last one," Rogue answered smugly. "All alive and thriving."

"Very cool," Kitty said, then tilted her head back towards Rogue. "So, this is what you and Remy spent a month together working on, huh?"

"Yeah, I..." Rogue began and then frowned at Kitty, who was now grinning at her. "Don't. Just don't even go there. We're just friends."

"Yeah, a friend who's hardly ever around, and then takes a month out of his life to build an aquarium with you," Kitty pointed out as she straightened up.

"He's not hardly ever around," Rogue replied grumpily, folding her arms across her chest. "We talk every week."

"Oh do you now?"

"Kitty. Seriously. Don't."

Kitty regarded her friend for a moment, then inclined her head. "Sorry. I just want you to be happy. And I know you like Remy."

"I do but... I'm okay with just being friends," Rogue insisted.

Kitty opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Hunter beginning to wail and Meredith following suit. Kitty sighed.

"Guess that's my cue to get going," she said reluctantly. "Buuut next time, I wanna see this jet of yours."

Rogue grinned. "Deal."

* * *

Gambit sipped at his coffee. He was sitting in the corner of a busy little cafe in Paris, France, counting down the time until he had to leave for the airport. Just as he was getting to the bottom of his cup, a tall thin man approached his table and looked down at him. Gambit didn't need to lift his head to know it was the Tithe Collector.

"And what brings Candra's lackey to my table?" Gambit drawled.

"She wants to know why you're in Paris and haven't bothered to stop by," the Tithe Collector replied evenly, not rising to the jibe.

"Just passing through—"

"In person."

"Of course," Gambit replied smoothly, covering up his inward irritation. He had hoped to avoid her this trip. He stood and picked up his coat. "Well, best not to keep the lady waiting."

"Best not."

Gambit checked the time as he headed out. One hour before he had to leave for the airport. He'd have to make things quick. And if he found out his father had been spilling the details of his itinerary to her again...

* * *

Rogue took a deep breath as she focused on one of six pot plants on the kitchen bench. It was only small, but it was sufficient for her uses. A soothing instrumental was playing over her sound system.

"I can do this," she told herself. "I am calm. I am relaxed. I can do this."

She reached out her bare fingers towards the plant, trying to ignore the pull of the proximity absorption that was going on. She took another deep breath.

"I can do this," she said determinedly.

Her fingers touched the stem and instantly the plant shrivelled up and died. Rogue's fingers lingered there for a moment, and then she pushed the pot plant aside and grabbed the next one.

"I can do this. I can do this."

She tried to push the frustration of her previous failure out of her head and focused on the second plant.

"I can do this," she said again.

Once more she reached out and touched the plant, and once more it withered away. Rogue closed her eyes. One day...

* * *

Logan tested the door to the control room of the Danger Room. He nodded. Locked, as it usually was during Rogue's Friday sessions. It wasn't supposed to be locked, not while people were running solo sessions, and Rogue knew this. Logan could only assume—since her Friday session was designated for personal—that she wasn't doing anything dangerous. She was probably doing something quite personal that she didn't want anyone seeing, which worried Logan even more because there were only so many things on his "things it would be embarrassing to be caught doing in the Danger Room" list.

He checked the time and opted to hang around the door to the Danger Room, figuring that since her hour would soon be up, she'd be coming out soon. Sure enough, only two minutes later the door opened and Rogue stepped out. She started a little, not expecting to see him there.

"Hey, Logan," she said.

"Hey darlin'," he replied, and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

He could smell the remnants of her scent on her hazmat suit, but that was about it. Being forced to dwell in airtight environments meant that Logan could no longer smell her directly, nor did she level a trail around the campus, except for in the Danger Room. It was something he would never mention out loud, but he missed Rogue's scent. He missed smelling her around the school, her scent intermingled with the others here. For this Logan felt her absence these long years a lot more acutely than anyone else.

"Have fun?" he asked.

'Yeah," Rogue replied, hoping he wouldn't ask anything more specific about her session. "How's your day been?"

Logan shrugged. "It's been a day."

He held onto her a little longer, and after a bit more small talk they parted ways. As soon as she was out of sight, Logan stepped into the Danger Room and sniffed cautiously. Rogue's scent was all over the place, but there wasn't anything worrying about it, nor could he smell any freshly used cleaning products. He grunted and then departed.

As far as he could tell she hadn't been using the Danger Room for sex, not that he had any idea how he'd approach the matter with her if he had reason to think she did. Had it been anyone else he would have told them to go take their jollies elsewhere. He'd prefer it if Rogue took her jollies—if she was having them—elsewhere too. But as someone who had gotten his fair share of "company" over the years (those years he could remember), and knowing her situation, he wasn't sure he could tell her to stop.

* * *

Paige entered the greenhouse with a box containing six dead pot plants and looked for Storm. She spotted the white-haired headmistress easily and made her way over, clearing her throat to get Storm's attention.

"Rogue dropped these off," Paige reported.

Storm pressed her lips together as she look at yet another box of dead plants.

"Thank you, Paige," she said. "Please put the plants into the compost, and the soil into that bin over there. It needs to be revitalised before it will be of any further use to us. Oh, and if you could refill the box with replacement plants from that selection, and take it to Rogue's place?"

"Will do."

Storm gave a nod and went back to tending her other plants. She knew it wasn't Rogue's fault, and she was doing her best, but Storm was finding it harder and harder to deal with Rogue, or even look at her. Storm spent so much of her time caring for and nurturing life that all the death surrounding Rogue these last few years made her feel sick to the stomach. Although the patch of ground Rogue had drained dry when her powers came back had now healed and was green again, Storm could never get that black image out of her mind, and she was reminded of it every time dead pot plants were sent back to her for replacement.

* * *

Rogue walked through the mansion to the ballroom with a big red sack over her shoulder. It was late, and the only people she expected to see up was whoever was on night watch. As if on cue, Bobby walked out from around the corner and near ran smack into Rogue.

"Whoa, hey, Rogue," he said. "Nearly didn't see you there."

"You should try walking around with your eyes open," Rogue replied cheekily. "That might help."

"Oh ha ha," Bobby said, and he gave her an awkward hug that was mostly so because the Santa sack was in the way. "So, do I get a present, Santa?"

"Not until tomorrow, like all the good boys and girls," Rogue said.

Bobby chuckled. "Need a hand?"

"Nah, I'll be right."

"Okay then. I'll let you go do presents."

They soon parted and Rogue walked the rest of the short distance to the ballroom. She distributed the presents underneath the tree and then headed back home. When she walked into the vestibule, she discovered that she hadn't been the only one playing Santa that night: someone had left a box full of presents for her. She smiled, picked up the box, and after she stripped off her hazmat suit she placed these presents under the small plastic tree in her living room.

* * *

Rogue didn't know what day it was when she woke up the next morning, but she was quickly reminded when she stepped out into her living room and saw all the Christmas decorations she had hanging up. It heartened her for a moment, and then she promptly went about her usual morning routine. She had to keep busy. It was a must. Last year they'd promised her they'd call when they were all ready to open presents, and they hadn't remembered until they were over halfway through. She hated to think she was so easily forgotten.

Fortunately this year they'd remembered their goof from the previous one and made sure to call her while everyone else was still gathering. This year Rogue's transmission was on a larger screen and the camera situated so she had a wider view.

Although many of the students hand gone home to their families over the Christmas break, there were still many who didn't have homes to go to, so the ballroom (which was also used as the school assembly hall) was reasonably crowded. When everyone had finally arrived, Rogue watched the frenzy of gifts being handed out and unwrapped.

"Okay Rogue," Kitty said, holding up the present that Rogue had left for her the night before. "Go get the one I gave you!"

Rogue chuckled and grabbed Kitty's present. They unwrapped each other's gift at the same time, and then promptly dissolved into mutual fits of "I love it!" and "Thank you so much!"

She had similar exchanges with the rest of her friends, all but Jubilee. Slowly but surely people started to leave and just when Rogue was thinking she should turn off the connection, Jubilee appeared. The ballroom was mostly empty by that point.

"Hey," Jubilee said, sidling up to Rogue's screen with her present in her hands. "Have you opened mine yet?"

"Nope," Rogue replied with a smile. "I was beginning to wonder though..."

"Heh, yeah, I thought you might not want to open it with so many people around," Jubilee said as she sat down. "And I'm kinda freaking out that you might have this one already. You've only been in there forever so I wouldn't be surprised if you had a whole collection of them."

"Now you've got me curious," Rogue said, picking up Jubilee's flat, light present.

"Well, goodness knows I'd go nuts without mine," Jubilee replied cheerfully, sliding her finger underneath the tape of Rogue's small present to her. "Why'd you put so much tape on this?"

Rogue chuckled. She opened up Jubilee's present, and her eyes widened and a blush filled her face when she saw the vibrator inside. She quickly covered it up again, not that the camera was at the right angle to see what it was.

"Okay," Rogue said with a squeak in her voice. "I can honestly tell you I don't have one of those. At all."

"Really?" Jubilee asked in surprise, pausing in the middle of trying to rip off the wrapping paper. "Living in there must be worse than I thought. I don't know how'd I ever get through my dry spells without mine. And goodness knows I have a lot of dry spells. How do you survive?"

"Romance novels mostly," Rogue replied, a little embarrassed by the conversation, but at the same time, Jubilee was probably one of the few she'd be comfortable discussing such things with. "Plus I have a spa bath, scented bath oils, champagne, scented candles, and a sound system that goes through the entire house."

Jubilee laughed and finally got the present open. It was a funny looking clear plastic box that made a rattling noise when she rotated it, and in the middle was a gift card for one of Jubilee's favourite stores.

"Oooh, shopping!" Jubilee said happily, while inspecting the box. "Wait... How do you get it out?"

Rogue giggled.

"There's a ball," she told her. "You have to get the ball through the maze to where slide is. Then you push the slide and it opens the door."

Jubilee caught her breath dramatically. "You... you... you're making me solve a puzzle before I can go shopping? I can't believe you'd be so cruel!"

"It's not that hard."

"This coming from the rocket scientist."

* * *

Rogue attempted to join everyone for Christmas lunch, but the microphone on the laptop that they had her set up on at the table didn't have a very good range. Between that and the number of people talking, she could only hear people clearly if they were sitting next to her. In the end, she went through the whole meal feeling bored and left out.

She wondered why she even bothered, then she wondered why she was expecting her friends' social lives to revolve around her. Everyone had their own priorities; priorities which—given normal circumstances—Rogue would never have a problem with. Kitty, Piotr, and Theresa had kids, many of them had significant others. Storm and Logan had a whole school to look after. She should stop being so selfish.

After way too much time spent on the couch feeling sorry for herself, Rogue decided to ring Gambit. She knew that he and his kin didn't really celebrate Christmas, so she knew she wouldn't be interrupting anything by calling. She only got his voice mail, so after leaving a message, Rogue turned her attention to the presents she'd been given in an attempt to stop herself from wallowing in self-pity for reasons she was certain were completely unjustified.

About an hour later her phone rang and she was completely delighted when she saw Gambit's name appear on the screen.

"Hi!" she greeted him as she answered, hoping she didn't sound too eager.

"Hey," Gambit replied. "Got your message. Hope you don't mind, but I'm driving right now, so I have you on speaker. And I have an eavesdropper; this is my cousin, Emil."

"Hi Rogue," Emil said.

"Oh, hi," Rogue said hearing the new voice. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

"How's your Christmas been?" Gambit asked. "They didn't forget you again this year, did they?"

"Oh, no, no. They got me all set up before any presents got given out," Rogue assured him.

"Good. Because if they had I might have had to come down there and beat some sense into them."

Rogue laughed nervously. "Oh well, you know, they all have their own lives. I mean, I can't expect them to revolve around me. It's not like I'm the centre of the universe or anything. What about you? How has your Christmas... Well, I know you said you don't celebrate, but..."

"Oh," Gambit glanced briefly into the back of the truck he was driving and then grinned at Emil, "I've been keeping myself busy."

"Okay, that's good then," Rogue replied, and Emil smirked.

"So, tell me," Gambit said. "Get any good presents? Did someone get you another Harlequin subscription this year?"

"Yes," Rogue replied with the thought of the vibrator making her blush (definitely not telling him about that!) "And yes. It's a good thing it's been ebooks because I would need to add on a library onto this place otherwise."

"Harlequin," Emil repeated, with a sly grin at Remy.

"Hey, a girl's gotta have something to get her through a dry spell," Rogue said brightly, taking a line from Jubilee.

"Oh? So that's why you're calling, eh?" Emil said mischievously. "Trying to get a little booty call?"

Remy shook his head at Emil with an expression that said "You did not just say that." Emil looked back and mouthed the word "what?" Remy narrowed his eyes and mouthed "drop it."

Oblivious to their silent conversation, Rogue said: "Oh, umm, no. I umm, I just wanted to—"

"Hear my voice?" Gambit cut in, determined to salvage the situation. "Glad you did. I wanted to hear the soothing, musical tones of your lovely voice too. Have you found a way to bottle that up yet? I don't know how I'm supposed to bathe in it if you don't."

Emil burst out laughing.

"Well, I think we both know what Emil thinks of your plan to bathe in the sound of my voice," Rogue replied, sounding amused.

"He has no appreciation for the finer things in life," Gambit said. "And they don't come much finer than you, ma chère."

"Flatterer."

"I speak only the truth."

"Ha!" Emil scoffed. "You haven't spoken an honest word in your life, Remy."

"And now he's insulting my honour," Gambit said with a sigh.

"Shall I come over there and defend it for you?" Rogue asked cheekily.

"Ooh, I've never had a woman defend my honour before—" Gambit began.

"That's 'cause you don't have any," Emil replied.

"—I might just take you up on that," Gambit said the same time Rogue replied to Emil: "Women or honour?"

"That's a trick question and I'm not falling for it," Emil told Rogue.

Rogue laughed.

The three chatted for a good half hour until the signal started breaking up, and then they said their good byes before they were completely cut off.

"Seems like a nice girl," Emil said, with a glance at Gambit. "Mind telling me what the booty call business was about?"

"Rogue's a class five mutant who can't control her powers. She has to live in an airtight home, or she'll suck the life out of every living creature in range. Plants, humans, animals, everything," Gambit replied gravely. "You can just forget trying to touch her; you can only do that through a hazmat suit."

"Ah, so her dry spell is..." Emil trailed off.

"The harsh reality is that it could be the rest of her life," Gambit said. "She's been in there for years already, and even though she's been trying to get her powers under control, she's had no success at all so far."

"That...sucks," Emil said slowly, then asked cautiously: "Ever think about referring her to Dr Essex?"

"I wouldn't refer that man to my worst enemy."

"You mean you wouldn't even refer Dr Essex to Dr Essex? Wow, good thing he already knows himself."

"Not funny, Emil."

Emil let out a long breath. "Yeah, I know. But seriously, Remy. Stuck in an airtight prison the rest of her life? Surely—"

"The cost is too high," Gambit replied coldly. "It will destroy her. It would be far more merciful for me to kill her myself than to see her in that man's lab."

"If you say so," Emil said, and hurried on before Gambit could respond: "How come she's calling you then?"

"Because somehow I made it onto her short list of friends," Gambit said with a note of irritation in his voice. "You know, one of those people who actually talks to her in a social setting, oh, and I'm pretty much the only one who ever bothers putting on a hazmat suit and actually sees her at home. She's the loneliest thing I've ever met."

"Oh, I get it now," Emil said, smirking. "It's Prince Charming to the rescue again. What did you say her power was? Sucking the life out of stuff? Hmm... Sounds like you've finally met that succubus I've been warning you about."

Gambit snickered, and then smacked Emil's arm. "You ever call her that again, and it'll be the last thing you call anyone."

Emil chuckled and saluted. "Yes, Your Majesty Prince Charming, sir."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Logan dropped by. Much to Rogue's surprise, Logan opted to put a hazmat suit on. Even though he now had a suit that was designated for his use only, it was still a rare occurrence. Logan was really not comfortable in the hazmat suit at all, so Rogue was very appreciative of the times he chose to put it on.

"Storm says there's a blizzard coming," Logan said while they hugged in Rogue's living room. "A big one. I wanted to make sure you had plenty of food and anything else you might need."

"I'll double check, but I'm pretty sure I'm right for everything," Rogue replied.

"Alright," Logan said, pulling away from the hug, but keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Let us know if you do. Worst case scenario we can always send a teleporter over."

Rogue nodded. "I'm sure I'll be fine, but your concern much appreciated. Actually, this place being airtight, I'm probably going to be more comfortable that you; great insulation, heating, and nowhere for drafts to come in from outside."

Logan chuckled.

"Now, you're probably going to be on your own for the duration and after it clears too," Logan warned her. "We will be clearing the snow afterwards but—"

"The other buildings will need paths cleared before I do," Rogue finished, her mind on the multiple residential buildings. "It's okay. I consider myself warned."

"Just don't want you to think we've forgotten about you if communications do get cut off and it's awhile before we can make contact," Logan said seriously. "We're planning on keeping an eye out for the neighbours too and assist emergency services if need be."

"Right. Even with all these powers at our disposal, everyone has their limits," Rogue said with a nod. "Even Storm."

"Yeah, she thinks trying to stop this one would be more effort than it would be worth; she'd have to be awake and using her powers the whole time," Logan replied. "And a few days is a long time to be under that kind of strain."

"Agreed."

* * *

Storm's infallible weather-sense gave them a few days which seemed like plenty of time until they got bogged down in preparations. On top of making sure they had ample supplies and that all previously reported leaks and damaged areas had been attended to, one of the generators broke down, and Magneto—back from his own vacation over the Christmas break—had to make repairs.

Just before the storm hit, specially selected teams of X-Men headed out to make sure that none of their neighbours were trapped outside in cars or otherwise. Although all the teams were later getting back to the school than they liked, they did make it back safe and sound. After that, there was nothing else to do but wait it out.

Rogue didn't even notice the blizzard until she checked her exterior cameras. With nowhere for the outdoors to be able to enter her home without her consent, she was just as comfortable as she always was. As such, she went about her time as usual, even enjoying her weekly game of chess with Magneto until the snow got so thick it blocked the signal from her satellite. She did some work in her workshop for awhile, then watched some TV (fortunately, she was in the habit of buying copies of her favourite shows and movies—whether physical or digital—and was spared being denied by lack of signal).

Concluding that it had been awhile since she last did any weights, Rogue sat down at her weight station to do just that. She soon remembered why she stopped; even the heaviest weight was too light for her. She shook her head.

"Weird," she said to herself. "It's been ages since I absorbed those guys at the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison. Their powers should have worn off by now."

She glanced over at her fish. "Now I ask you, how's a girl supposed to get a decent workout lifting weights if she can't find any weights heavy enough to be worth the effort? I demand to know."

She sighed and went for a run on her treadmill instead.

* * *

Rogue was curled up on her bed with one of her new romance novels. She had 'mood music' playing in the background and some scented candles burning. In her self indulgence, she was picturing herself as the female lead, and Gambit as the male one. After all, what was the point of having a crush if she didn't fantasise a little? She even had a picture of him on her bedside table although she always hid it in a drawer whenever he came over. Rogue hoped Gambit never found out about her crush. She really didn't want him to feel like he had to put her down gently or something.

The book came to an end and she set it aside. She sighed to herself and replayed the last saucy scene over in her mind. She was still very much in the mood, but didn't really feel like starting a new book just yet. Then she remembered Jubilee's present.

"Alright," Rogue said to herself, fishing it out of the bottom drawer. "How's this thing supposed to work?"

She read over the instructions, inserted the appropriate batteries and got herself comfortable. Then she sat up again and turned over Gambit's photo. She knew he couldn't actually see what she was about to do, but she still didn't want to feel like he was watching. Rogue got herself comfortable again. She was nervous, but she wasn't a virgin anymore; Bobby had taken care of that years ago.

Rogue sat up again. Eight years ago, in fact. She'd been living here, in this place, for six, almost seven, and the Cure had been effective for two years. Those few times with Bobby was the only sex she'd ever had, and ever would have. Her hand clenched the vibrator. She would never touch another living soul again, not without killing them.

Six years, and even after redoubling her efforts she still had made no progress at all on getting her powers under control. Meanwhile, Bobby could now turn himself into ice and create ice slides for himself. Not that Rogue had ever seen them, being trapped away from everyone, not even being able to share a Danger Room session with her friends any more. Kitty had gotten control over her powers after only a few months and now she was doing things like walking on air. Even Jubilee whose "pafs" were often dismissed as too small to be of use for anything other than decorative or shorting our electrical equipment was doing some big, amazing things with her fireworks.

But what was she good for? Just killing. A mass murdering time bomb just waiting to go off, that's what she was. The flow of life from the eight plants in her home became all too noticeable in Rogue's mind. For the most part this flow had taken on the role of 'background noise' but now it fell all too unbearably loud. She got off the bed, and the vibrator fell to the floor, forgotten. Rogue found the eight nagging demons in her home and silenced them one by one, until there was only one source of life left.

Rogue looked down at the aquarium. It was silent for the moment, but every now and then with the constant movement of water a microrganism would get too close to the surface; perhaps being washed up upon the side of the glass just above the surface, and her powers would snap it up.

"The tip of my finger," Rogue said to the aquarium. "That's all it would take. Just the tip of my finger in the water and in less than a second all your life would be gone. The water's all that standing between you and death."

For a moment her hand hovered by the surface, but after her hesitation, she pulled her hand away. This was the only thriving life here. This was an oasis in the desert. She would not destroy it.

* * *

Communications were restored soon after the blizzard ended and Rogue reconnected with the rest of the world. The X-Men busied themselves helping neighbours and assisting emergency services in taking care of the worst of the damage. Rogue sat comfortably at home, well aware that her friends were out there helping people while she could not. No, she got to sit around all day because if she stepped outside she'd do more harm than good.

The path to her home was cleared, her food restocked, and the plants she had killed replaced. Rogue wasn't even sure why they even bothered anymore. It was clear she was never going to get control. In fact it was probably only a matter of time before someone decided to take a page out of Magneto's book and kidnap her to use her against others. They'd only need to pick her up where she was the most vulnerable, on her walks to and from the school, take her to the place they wanted wiped and dump her there with a big gaping hole in her suit and no way to take her own life.

Rogue woke one morning and knew exactly what she needed to do.

She walked over to her weapons locker. She pulled out her hand gun, paused, and then switched it for the rifle and loaded it. She made her way into the bathroom, got comfortable in the tub and lined up the rifle. Sure, the handgun would have been less awkward, but there would be more power behind the rifle's bullets, and she had heard somewhere that people were more likely to live through a handgun shot to the head.

Rogue squeezed the trigger.


End file.
